The Red Clouds of Love
by Valior
Summary: The Akatsuki never lose. They never lose because they are patient, and they understand the rules of war. And love. With the Nine-Tails being one of their last conquests before their goal is complete, the Akatsuki recognize that they require a new weapon for its capture. The weapon that strikes at the heart. And they will use Hinata Hyuga to get to it. Lemons in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi and welcome to my third fanfic, The Red Clouds of Love. I wanted to do a fic like this for a while, and I figured now would be as good as any time. For the newbie's who don't know, I don't like waiting for fics to be updated, so when I write one, I post it all at once. Anyway, this may or may not be my last lemon fic, since I'm writing my own story currently. Please be aware that I haven't watched that many Shippuden episodes, so my knowledge of the Akatsuki members is limited to Itachi, Kisame, Diedara, Sasori, Orochimaru (does he count? Not really but I thought since he's an ex-member he deserves to be included in my list), Tobi and that guy with a plant on his head who I think is called Zetsu. Well, lets do this!

Chapter One

The Akatsuki's next move

Time: 11:58 PM, Monday night

Location: The hidden lair of the Akatsuki, The Land of Rivers.

The darkness of the cavern felt strangely… artificial to the figure. Like a spell of shadows had been cast inside the cave, just to unnerve the inhabitants. But the figure didn't mind, he had been here enough times to get used to the darkness. And the smell, which reminded him of smelling humid air on a hot, tropical day, even though the figure had spent very little time in such climate, even before he joined the Akatsuki.

The figure, which was hunched over and draped in the cloak of the Akatsuki, moved at last, walking up steps to a large pillar of stone. The only defining feature he possessed other then his cloak was his face, which was completely covered except for the eyes, which radiated malice and doom. He stood not even a mere meter and a half off the ground, but his entire body was hunched over like a cripple, making him look a little like a turtle who had no shell.

When the figure reached the top of the pillar, he saw one other figure standing on the pillar next to him, wearing a grim smile and also wearing the robes of the Akatsuki. The first one turned and faced the center of the ring, composed of ten pillars and a larger one in the center.

"Sasori, my man" The second figure turned and said, "It's good to see you again, how are you doing?"

Sasori simply looked on. "Deidara, you would be wise not to treat me like a child" Sasori said in a gruff, aggressive voice.

Deidara turned back to the center, where on each pillar, images of people began to form.

Deidara and Sasori knew the names of the people, and both also knew that they were untrustworthy, cruel and merciless, just like them. The one nearest to Sasori spoke in a voice that was lined with electronic tones, but still coherent.

"I don't want to waste any time here, so let's get right to it" The figure looked at all the images of the others in turn and then at Deidara and Sasori. "Itachi and Kisame, you failed to capture the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox three years ago, and since then, we haven't made a move to try again, I think now would be as good a time as any."

One of the figures, his image not revealing much save his bright red eyes, spoke next. "This time, we shall not fail. Naruto Uzumaki is a foolhardy individual, he will not pose a threat to me and Kisame"

"I say we simply cut off his legs and drag him back here" Another image said, this one tall and having a large sword strapped to his back. "As long as we don't kill him, the Nine-Tails spirit won't die either"

"Kisame, your way may sound efficient, but in practice it is likely to fail" The second figure said, his voice and expression perfectly neutral. "Naruto may be weak in relative to us, but it will be difficult to capture him without one of us being at least injured to killed should he unleash the Nine-Tails"

Kisame looked at the second figure. "Then how would you go about capturing him Itachi?" he said, his lip curled in dissatisfaction.

"We cannot capture him by normal means, for should he unleash the Nine-Tails we would surely either die or be forced to flee" Itachi said, still not looking at Kisame.

"Again, how are we supposed to capture him?" Kisame repeated, his tone rising in anger.

"Silence. Both of you." A third figure said, this one whose head was surrounded on both sides by two large jaws not unlike that of a Venus Fly Trap plant. "Think about it. It is always easier to have prey walk into a baited net, rather then hunt it down and drag it back."

Kisame sneered and growled. "Stop speaking in riddles, Zetsu, just tell us how we are supposed to capture the little runt"

"He means that we must get Naruto to come to us, by baiting him with something precious to him. Like, say, a friend" Itachi explained, his tone still staying flat.

"Then I think I already have the perfect bait," Zetsu said. He raised a hand toward the middle pillar and an image of a young girl with dark blue hair appeared. She looked about 16, dressed in a light blue sweater and white pants. Nobody save for Zetsu knew who it was, though judging by the pupil-less eyes Itachi could guess she was one of the Hyuga clan, a powerful clan of his own village.

"This is Hinata Hyuga, heir to the Hyuga clan, and it's future ruler" Zetsu lowered his hand "She is Naruto Uzumaki's fellow classmate and friend, and harbors severe romantic feelings for him. She is far weaker then Naruto, and from what I gathered, the perfect target to bait the Jinchuriki"

Nobody was surprised about how much Zetsu knew about this girl. He was the top spy and scout for the Akatsuki, and for the last month he had been undercover as a chunin of the leaf village to gather information on the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Zetsu was one who knew all, he heard every whisper, and knew every secret. His knowledge alone made him formidable.

"And if we should capture this Hinata, and Naruto doesn't care?" Deidara questioned, his eyebrows rising in disbelief.

"From what I've seen, he's very protective of all his friends." Zetsu claimed "When Sasuke Uchiha ran off to join Orochimaru, Naruto took off after him like a fly to honey. In fact, he is still attempting to find him to this day"

If Itachi showed any emotion about the mention of his little brother joining the former member of the Akatsuki, he didn't show it. Most knew that Itachi rarely showed any emotion at all, but what could you expect from one who singlehandedly massacred his entire clan save his little brother.

"So we capture the Hyuga child, and we bring her back here?" Deidara asked, the smile on his face returning at the idea.

"Well, that is part one of the plan, yes" Zetsu confirmed. "But the true masterpiece is what I've planned afterwards. What if we were to turn the girl to our side? She must know Naruto far better then we do, it would be much easier for her to bring him to here then if we were to"

Silently, Sasori was impressed with Zetsu's plan. Not only was it flawless, but also perfectly devious and cunning. Sasori had grown used to Zetsu's intelligence over the years, but he still was impressed whenever he used that brain of his.

"An interesting idea Zetsu" The figure beside Sasori said "Very well, we'll try it out. Deidara and Sasori, I want you to enter the Hidden Leaf Village and capture Hinata Hyuga, and Itachi and Kisame, I want both of you to work on making the girl work for us. Train her and break her mind, but do it without jutsu. Jutsu can break easily, while the old fashioned way is much more difficult to erase."

All understood, and one by one, the figures vanished, the last two being Itachi and Kisame. In silence, Deidara and Sasori both stood on neighboring pillars, deep in thought.

"Well Sasori, my man, it looks like you and I have a kid to snatch" Deidara said, smiling devilishly. Sasori grunted in approval and both of them walked down from the pillars.

Deidara and Sasori were not the best partnership in the Akatsuki, and they frequently bickered about the true nature of art. While Deidara said that art was all about the explosion of when you first see it, Sasori claimed that art was eternal and lasted forever. And so their fighting styles greatly differed from each other, Deidara used exploding clay to create blasts he considered art, while Sasori made long-lasting puppets out of humans. But still, they both worked well together and had never failed an assignment.

When they reached the cave mouth, Sasori spoke under his breath in his deep, scratchy voice. In front of them, the boulder that made up the crude entrance slowly moved aside, allowing the two to pass through unhindered. This hideout was close to the land of fire, and so it would take a mere couple of hours to reach the hidden leaf village.

"Deidara, we shall stay on the border of the Land of Fire for a night" Sasori grumbled

"We need more information then what Zetsu gave us, so you must scout the village from the air. Find the Hyuga compound, and analyze our target. Tomorrow we shall make our move."

"Sure thing Sasori, my man" Deidara said with a smile. Normally Deidara wouldn't have taken orders from Sasori, but the idea was a good one, and even though he didn't like to admit it, Sasori was stronger then Deidara, and he wanted to stay on his good side.

Both of them stepped out of the cave and onto a river, using their chakra to walk on the water, but such easy techniques were second nature to both of them, being so powerful. Sasori moved slowly, there was no rush to reach the border, and moving quickly would just tire him out.

Deidara was not so patient. He reached into a pouch on his thigh and used the mouth in his hand to eat and digest some of the exploding clay. They continued walking for a few minutes and then the mouth spat out the clay, signaling it was ready. Deidara closed his hand for a second, and when he opened it, a crude clay bird was sitting in his palm.

Deidara dropped in on the ground and closed his eyes. In a poof of smoke the bird grew immensely, so that it was even larger then Deidara. Deidara climbed atop the bird and tossed something to Sasori, who caught it without his hand emerging from the sleeve of his Akatsuki robe. It was a small piece of metal that blinked red every few seconds.

"Just hold on to that Sasori, my man" Deidara smiled, "I'll find you later, sometime tomorrow night, and with that I'll be able to track your location"

The bird he had created stretched it's large wings and lifted off the water with a splash. The clay creature moved quickly and Deidara turned it in the direction of the hidden leaf village. Deidara grinned, wondering how much fun snatching the Hyuga girl was going to be.

Sasori watched his partner fly east, toward the land of fire, and grunted in anger at his impatience. "Just don't keep me waiting too long Deidara" Sasori said, even though he knew Deidara couldn't hear him. "You know that I don't like that…"

A/N: And that's chapter one! I'm going to try and make this my longest fanfic so far, +20k words at least. So buckle your seatbelts, because from here it's only going to heat up. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how Deidara and Sasori should capture Hinata, should Deidara get her like her caught Gaara? Or more subtly, like when Itachi and Kisame infiltrated the village? I'm not sold yet, but we'll see what happens!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Two

Hinata's suspicions and Deidara's recon

Time: 9:00 AM, Tuesday Morning

Location: Hyuga compound, The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Hinata Hyuga lay in bed, asleep. Her breathing was soft and her dark blue hair was spread across the pillow, her chest moving slowly up and down. Her hands had grasped the sheets tightly, and her body was in the position of someone in pain. Frown lines creased her face and her mouth was slightly open.

Then, her breathing quickened and she seemed to pant. An incoherent word escaped her lips and suddenly her eyes snapped open and she bolted awake, sitting up in bed.

"Naruto! No!" She cried, and then she looked around, and noticed she was awake, she had had another dream of Naruto leaving. She often dreamed of him, but every now and again there was a nightmare of him dieing or even worse, leaving her. Naruto wasn't her boyfriend or anything, but she still worried whenever he left on a mission about him not coming back.

Hinata slipped out of bed and walked over to her closet, opening the doors. She picked out her normal sweater and pants and took off her nightgown. She put aside pair of blue panties and a bra, then her fishnet top and finally her normal outfit. Walking into her bathroom, she splashed some cold water on her face and stumbled into the shower.

Hinata remembered that her team had a mission today, according to Kurenai-sensei; they had a B-rank scouting mission that would send them to the Land of Water and check out a base that was supposedly abandoned by the Akatsuki, but it could develop into an A-rank mission should guards show up, or worse, a member of the Akatsuki.

Hinata sighed as the hot water flowed over her lithe form. Normally she would have said an oath that today would be the day she confessed her feelings to Naruto, but she knew that it was pointless, she always lost her confidence right before she talked to him. Hinata turned off the water and put on her clothing, not wanting to keep Kiba and Shino waiting.

She walked downstairs and grabbed a peach and a handful of crackers from the kitchen, then took off toward the tree her team always met under. As she bounded over the rooftops of the village, Hinata wondered if Naruto had left on another mission or if he was back in town.

Shino was waiting when she arrived, dressed in his usual cloak and hood that covered all but his eyes, which he covered with black glasses. He made no indication to her presence other then turning his head a little and nodding ever so slightly.

"Good morning Shino" Hinata said, smiling a little. She stood a few feet away from him and looked around, admiring the sky.

"Hinata" was all he said in greeting. Kiba was still not here, but neither of them were surprised, he usually was the one who was late. The boy was like Naruto's sensei Kakashi, but at least Kakashi gave excuses, however unbelievable they may be, Kiba just walked in and didn't even acknowledge the fact he was late.

As if on cue, Kiba, riding on a massive white hound, tore down the alleyway and his mount halted just in front of the tree. Kiba dismounted and hugged the dog's neck, earning a bark of approval from the beast.

"Morning you two" Kiba said, once again not mentioning why he was late.

"Hi Kiba" Hinata said, inclining her head in respect. Shino was silent, and didn't even acknowledge his teammates arrival. It was difficult to tell what emotions Shino displayed, even for Hinata and Kiba, who had been friends with him for years. He was a bit like Sasuke Uchiha, except Sasuke did show some emotion, usually negative; Shino very rarely displayed his feelings.

Just then, Kurenai appeared, walking down the alley and raising her hand in greeting.

"Good morning you three" She said, smiling and closing her eyes.

Hinata and Kiba both said hello, but Shino just nodded his head.

"I've got some news from the hokage, our mission has been postponed until later tonight, due to some bad weather outside the village. If we get caught in it we could be in trouble, so we're going to wait until later tonight to leave." Kurenai said.

Kiba groaned. "Awwww, come on Kurenai-sensei, me and Akamaru trained for this mission for the last three days, how bad can this weather be?" He whined, and his dog, Akamaru, made a whimpering noise that echoed his master.

"It's a high-velocity electrical storm" Kurenai explained, a little irritated by her student's impatience. "If we attempt to cross through it, there's a high chance one of us would be struck by lightning, or caught in a hailstorm"

Kiba became quiet in understanding. "But listen, why don't you three take the day off?" Kurenai suggested "Go train, soak in the hot springs, do whatever you wish, I have to report to the hokage, so you do your stuff, and I'll meet you back here at nine o' clock tonight, okay?"

Kiba nodded, but a smile broke his face and he ran over to Akamaru. He jumped on his dog, and Akamaru took off in a whirl of dust. Shino shook his head and Hinata giggled at his enthusiasm to get going.

"Hinata, what did you plan on doing today?" Kurenai inquired.

"Well, I wanted to go do some t-training later, but for now I think I might just soak in the hot springs this m-morning" Hinata said, her hands fidgeting impatiently.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" Kurenai asked

"N-no, thank you sensei" Hinata said, bowing her head.

"Excellent. Shino, unless you want to train with me, I'll see you tonight" Kurenai said, not asking him what he was going to do, as he probably wouldn't answer anyway.

"No thank you Kurenai. I'll see you tonight" Shino said, looking at the ground. Kurenai and Hinata took off, leaping in the direction of the hot springs. Shino just slowly walked down the alleyway, headed to an unknown destination.

Hinata and Kurenai moved quickly, headed toward the mountain which had the five hokages' faces carved on it. The hot springs relied on the earth's core heating water, and the mountain, which was now an inactive volcano, supplied the pools there with natural heat. It was a very efficient system, and nothing felt quite like slipping into a pool that was 35 or 40 degrees after a long mission. Bliss.

When they reached the building that surrounded the hot springs, walked into the change room and stripped down. Then they walked into the women-only section of the pools and slipped, naked, into the pool. Both noticed there was another women there as well, she looked about 5'9 and had long, black hair like a raven. She took interest when the two kunoichi got into the water and swam over to them.

"Excuse me," The women said, her eyes narrowing while looking at Hinata. "But would you happen to be the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded slowly, and the women smiled in excitement and shook her hand underwater. "It is an honor to meet you, I have admired the Hyuga clan for a very long time, even though I'm from the Hidden Sand village. Your clan is so powerful and I've idolized them forever"

Hinata smiled falsely, this was a bit odd, but it was surely nothing more then an overexcited fan. "Thank you, I'm honored by your admiration of our clan" she said, a little uncomfortable with the women.

"Oh, I'm Deidashi, a kunoichi from the village hidden in the sand, by the way" the women said, and her eyes flew upward to a clock mounted on the wall. "Oh, I'm sorry I must be going now, I'm late for an appointment. It was so nice meeting you Hinata"

Deidashi climbed out of the hot springs and quickly walked into the building, closing the door behind her.

"That was, strange" Kurenai remarked, frowning and looking at Hinata "What did you think?"

"Um, she seemed a bit weird to me, but she just seemed like an over-excited fan of my clan" Hinata said, frowning as well. "I think it's nothing to worry about sensei"

"Perhaps you're right, lets just enjoy the hot springs" Kurenai said, a smile returning to her face, and she sunk into the water until it was up to her chin, and closed her eyes in relaxation.

**Outside…**

Deidashi walked out of the hot springs in her clothes, her eyes scanning the street in front of her and picking out an alley between two shops. She swiftly walked over to it and found it deserted, with nothing but a few garbage cans and some trash scattered on the ground.

She walked to the end, and looked to the end. When nobody was looking, Deidashi formed a single hand sign and was enveloped by smoke. When the smoke cleared, Deidashi no longer stood there, but instead the Akatsuki member Deidara.

How easy had it been to discover the child's identity by tricking her with that transformation jutsu. He sensed that the woman with the red eyes next to her would see through the jutsu quickly so he had to leave early, but he had gotten what he needed, and now all that was left was to find out where she lived.

Deidara raised his hands again and transformed, this time into a delivery ninja, whose sole purpose was to deliver their packages on time and safely. He took off out of the alley and ran to the nearest bystander.

"Excuse me sir, but would you be able to tell me where the Hyuga compound is?" Deidara asked in a false, high voice.

The man smiled and pointed down the street. "Yeah, it's down the road, then take a left, then a right, then another right and keep going for a while and you should make it in no time" He said, obviously thinking he was helping a fellow citizen who was in need.

Deidara took off, heading in the direction the man had told him to go. While running, he wondered how close Sasori was to the village; he hoped he wouldn't be too upset for Deidara keeping him waiting for so long. It may be wise not to talk to him right away. All Deidara needed now was to find out where the girl lived and they would capture her quickly.

Deidara came upon the Hyuga mansion at last. It was quite a large house, four walls surrounding an inner courtyard, but the clan leader DID live here, what could one expect? Deidara walked into a small nook in the wall of the house and dropped the transformation jutsu. Then, he looked at the palm of his hand, where the mouth there had been chewing on some clay for him.

On cue, the mouth spat out a wad, and Deidara closed his hand into a fist. When he opened it, three, crudely made white spiders lay there. Deidara dropped all three on the ground, and then reactivated his transformation jutsu, this time turning back into Deidashi.

Deidara took off again, this time toward the village gates. He admired the outfit he had picked for his transformation. A low-cut, brown top with a short brown skirt and high-heeled boots. He wore a fake forehead protector on his brow, and both his legs and arms were covered with fishnet. It was sure to make any man distracted, and draw their attention away from seeing through his jutsu.

When he reached the gates, he bounded past the watchmen, and once he was a good distance away from the village, stopped in a tree and formed a hand sign, closing his eyes in the process. In his mind, he saw the three clay spiders he dropped, waiting for orders.

Deidara directed all three throughout the household, keeping them in the shadows cast by the sun. It was still midday, so Deidara had to be careful there was nobody home. The spiders searched the rooms; looking for the one that belonged to the girl they were after.

Kitchen? No, there was a girl's room, but Deidara could see by the décor that it was not the room of a teenage girl, a nine-year old maybe though. Dining room, garden, wait! One of the spiders snuck into a room with a single bed, a desk, two wardrobes, several shelves with dozens of scrolls, and a bathroom extension.

Deidara had the spider slip under the wardrobe's door and he saw a ton of clothes that could only belong to a girl of Hinata's age. The clay thing squeezed under the door and Deidara summoned the other spiders to its location. Once they were all together, Deidara had them climb up the wall and hide under the windowsill, where they wouldn't be seen.

Deidara severed the connection and opened his eyes. The spiders had found Hinata's room, and Deidara now knew exactly what she looked like. His reconnaissance had been successful, and now he needed to find Sasori before he blew a fuse from waiting too long. Deidara pulled out a small blinking device just like the one he had given to Sasori.

The device suddenly levitated just above his hand and then moved in a direction that Deidara determined was southwest. He took off after it, keeping it in sight and leaping through the trees. He pondered how he would capture the girl, most likely by night so as not to attract attention. Deidara well knew from Itachi's information that the leaf village had strong defenses and an inordinate amount of shinobi, so he and Sasori would have to sneak in and grab her before anyone noticed.

Deidara watched as the device slowed down and then stopped at the entrance to a clearing. He leaped into the area and saw a slow-moving figure in a black and red cloak walking towards him that could only be Sasori.

"Hey there Sasori my man, I trust I didn't keep you waiting too long" Deidara said, smiling and walking towards him.

Sasori's covered face didn't change. "You didn't. I've been walking toward the village all this time" Sasori said. "It's not waiting if I'm doing my own task"

Deidara nodded and walked beside Sasori. Deidara couldn't help admire his partner's patience, for someone who hated waiting, he had the patience of a rock. As they walked, Deidara gave Sasori the rundown on what he had learned from his reconnaissance, earning stern nods from his companion.

They kept walking toward the village at a slow pace. Since Sasori hated waiting, and they were to strike at night, they both figured that they should spend the time at least getting to the village, regardless of how slow it was. Deidara managed a grim smile as they walked through the daylight, tonight was going to be fun.

A/N: I had to wrap it up or it would go too long, so forgive the lousy closing line. At any rate, I've more or less laid out the plot, so I'm going to power forward and finish the next chapter right now! Enjoy yourselves, I certainly will!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter Three

Target: Hinata!

Time: 8:32 PM

Location: The streets of the Leaf Village.

Deidara and Sasori moved quietly through the streets, not attracting any attention. They had both used transformation jutsu to hide their true forms, as their Akatsuki cloaks were a dead giveaway. When Itachi and Kisame had infiltrated the village, they had worn their cloaks, but now that the village's ANBU Black Ops' knew what the cloaks meant, they would attack immediately.

Deidara had taken on the form of the female he had used earlier, Deidashi. Sasori had taken the form of a small boy with brown hair, wearing an outfit of a commoner. A black vest, wearing blue jeans and the standard sandals of a ninja. He wore a headband on his forehead, bearing the emblem of the Hidden Sand village, like Deidara.

As they walked, Sasori's eyes scanned the street for danger. Deidara reached into a pouch on his waist, commanding the mouth in his palm to eat it, of course, since he was using a transformation jutsu, the mouth would be invisible were you to look at the hand. As Deidara waited for the clay to be chewed up enough to mold, he watched for any possible signs of an attack like Sasori, and also for Jonin, who could sometimes see through their transformations.

Sasori picked up the pace, anxious to capture the girl and leave. Deidara kept pace with him, and when they reached the street the Hyuga mansion was on, he made a pointing gesture obscurely to his partner, who nodded curtly.

They walked into an alleyway beside the large house and Deidara dropped his transformation, reverting to his true form. On cue, his hand spat out the clay, and Deidara molded it quickly into a long, thin string. Slipping the clay into his pocket, he leaped on the roof, discarding his Akatsuki cloak so he wouldn't be noticed.

Deidara climbed toward the skylight he had seen in he room, and looked down to see their target on her bed, lying facedown. He took the string from his pocket and with a hand sign; it grew forty times larger, and was now forty feet long at least.

He slipped open the skylight and lowered the clay rope down, dropping it toward the target. Using his chakra channeled through the clay he molded, he made it wrap around the girls head and mouth so she couldn't cry for help. Then, once it had completely wrapped around her body, he pulled up the clay.

Halfway up, the girl's eyes snapped open. Deidara frowned, and pulled her up faster, but without making a sound, she used her chakra, emitting it from all her chakra points and cut the rope in two. Deidara saw no other choice, and leaped down through the skylight into the girl's room.

"W-why are you here?" Hinata asked in a shy, breathy voice. She had settled into a defensive stance, but still shook with fright.

Deidara smiled as fake a warm smile as he would manage. "Well, how about you just come with me, and I'll explain everything on the way" Deidara took a step closer, and reached out his hand. "It's okay, I just want to talk to you"

Hinata considered. The man seemed nice, but then again, what nice man would try to abduct her in the middle of the night? She activated her Byakugan and took a step back.

"No way, I can tell you're not a good person," Hinata said, wishing she were as sure as she sounded.

Deidara sighed and lowered his hand. "Well, It would have been a lot easier if you had come by choice, but now, I'm making you come with me"

Before she could react, Deidara leaped towards her, grabbing her in a rough embrace, and leaped through the window, smashing it and landing on the street below. He wasted no more time and took off, calling Sasori as he ran, who took off after him.

Hinata did everything she could, trying to kick, punch, scream, bite, anything that would make the man let her go. Then, she got an idea, and focused her chakra into her hand, and detected three of his chakra points, hitting them.

Deidara fell to his knees in pain. He hadn't been in the Akatsuki for long and was not used to this type of pain. Hinata leaped off his shoulder and ran as fast as she could. But, looking back to see if Deidara was still down, she ran seemingly into a wall, until she looked at it.

"That's as far as you go," said Sasori roughly. An iron tail shot out from his back and tried to wrap around the girl, but she dodged quickly and got to her feet. Meanwhile, Deidara got back up, his hand molding clay into another rope, and then enlarging it.

Once it was big enough, Deidara threw it like a lasso, binding Hinata. He pulled on the rope, making her fall down, but she used the same technique she did last time and broke it. Opening his rarely visible mouth, Sasori shot a ton of senbalm needles from his maw toward Hinata, each one poisoned to slowly freeze muscles in the legs and arms, preventing movement.

Hinata did a back flip, dodging the needles. When she landed, she took off in another direction, running away from the two Akatsuki members. Thoughts flew through her mind: why were those people here? What did they want with her? Why did they attack her if they wanted her?

She contemplated yelling for help, but at this time, there was so much noise in the streets that she doubted she would be heard. Hinata headed in the direction of the Hokage's tower, possibly the only person who could help her. She leaped over a fence, and saw more needles whip past her face from the weird person who was hunched over.

She ran across the training fields, trying to reach the tower. Then, she tripped and fell head over heels, landing on her back. She looked and saw another small lasso tied on her ankle by the first man with blonde hair. She broke the rope and got up, forcing her chakra to her legs and making her run three times faster.

She bolted through the tree's, looking over her shoulder every so often to watch for the men chasing her. She kept her Byakugan activated and determined the Hokage tower was a little less then a kilometer away, she would reach it in less then a minute at the pace she was going at.

Suddenly, Hinata's legs began freezing up, like a muscle cramp, but she had more trouble moving them with each second that passed. Her legs gave out and she fell down, hitting the ground, but twisting and landing on her shoulder. With an inordinate amount of effort, she looked and saw something in her lower thigh. A senbalm needle.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the needle. Clearly when the second man had fired the first barrage of needles she hadn't dodged all of them, and senbalm didn't usually hurt much unless they pierced a vital spot. She wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't seen it, which was what made it such a deadly weapon.

Then, before her eyes, the two men landed in front of her. The blonde one leaned down and inspected the needle, smiling. "You haven't lost your touch Sasori, my man" he stood up.

The large, turtle-like one called Sasori moved toward her. "Deidara, you know better then to underestimate me," he said in his gruff, angry voice.

Deidara leaned down again, so he was level with Hinata. "Now my dear, why don't you come with us, and we'll explain everything on the way"

"Go to hell" Hinata spat. Deidara sighed again in disappointment.

"I tire of these games Deidara" Sasori said again. Sasori closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, and then they snapped open and stared into Hinata's pupil-less eyes.

"Brainwashing jutsu!" Sasori exclaimed.

Hinata suddenly felt understanding wash over her. These two weren't her enemies, they were just old friends who wanted to help her when she needed it, and there was no need to fight her two good friends, right?

"I'm sorry, I'll come with you" Hinata said, a smile on her face.

Inside his puppet armor, Sasori smirked. The brainwashing jutsu worked perfectly, as it did on everyone else. When the jutsu was used, Sasori could implant a microscopic needle into the memory center of the targets brain, sealing off specific memories. This time, he had chosen to block out all memory of him and Deidara being hostile to her.

What remained was an altered memory created by Sasori, one that he and Deidara had met her before and they had become good friends, perfect for a retrieval mission.

"Deidara, Sasori, it's so nice to see you again!" Hinata said. She tried to stand but her legs were still frozen from the poison of the senbalm. "Ouch! Deidara, can you remove this needle?"

Deidara looked at his partner for approval, earning a nod. Deidara leaned down and pulled out the senbalm, and immediately Hinata tried moving. She was still frozen, but she managed to move her fingers, and as she thought, the feeling returned to her slowly.

"The poison will last only a few minutes without the needle in" Sasori confirmed.

Sure enough, with effort and a hand up from Deidara, Hinata was able to get to her feet. She was wobbly, but she was able to stand on her own.

"Well, my dear Hinata, me and Sasori are headed off to go train, how would you like to come with us?" Deidara asked, smiling his fake smile again.

"I would love to Deidara" Hinata smiled, right before Sasori's iron tail touched a nerve on her neck, rendering her unconscious in a second. Deidara grabbed her body before

it could hit the ground, then slung it over his shoulder.

"No matter how many times you use that jutsu I'm still impressed with it Sasori, my man" Deidara said.

"Thank you. Now let's leave before we are noticed" Sasori said, and jumped through the trees, Deidara in pursuit, heading for the village gate.

**Meanwhile…**

Hiashi Hyuga walked upstairs in his mansion, looking for Hinata. He hadn't seen her leave, and she was late for her mission with Kurenai. Of course, it was possible that she had left through her window, but Hinata had never done that before, and Hiashi saw no reason why she would start now.

Hiashi knocked on the door to Hinata's room. "Hinata, you're late for your mission with Kurenai, get out of bed and get moving" he said in his most authoritative voice. When there was no response, he knocked again.

Hiashi lost his patience and opened the door. His eyes widened at the sight. The window was smashed from the inside, and glass splattered the room. The skylight was wide open and worst of all, there was no sign of his daughter.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Hiashi ran downstairs and flung the door wide, to find Kurenai and her two students, Kiba and Shino, if he remembered correctly.

"Kurenai, have you seen Hinata?" Hiashi asked, panting.

Her eyes widened, along with Kiba's, while Shino just looked straight on. "No, we were wondering if she was here, we were supposed to leave a few minutes ago for our mission" Kurenai explained "Why, is she not here?"

"Yes, and her window is smashed, I think she's been kidnapped" Hiashi said, making Shino look up.

"Take us upstairs, we'll search for clues" Kurenai worried. Hiashi let them in, and they all took off upstairs.

The four entered Hinata's room, looking at the disaster. Kurenai knelt down and looked at the glass. "It was broken from the inside, so whoever came in must have done it by way of the skylight" she deduced.

Kiba sniffed the air. He made a face instantly and turned to his companion. "Shino, can your insects pick up anything?"

Shino closed his eyes, and suddenly dozens of insects crawled out from his cloak, spreading out around the room. "Yes. There's a strong scent of… clay in here" he replied, not being much of a conversationalist.

The insects converged on the windowsill, swarming over it. Shino walked over there and saw what his bugs had found. Recalling the insects to his body, Shino picked up a small, white, crudely made spider.

"What is that?" Kiba said, and sniffed again. "It's clay, I would know that scent anywhere"

"Hinata is no artist, she couldn't have made something like this" Hiashi said, inspecting the figure.

"Wait, look at this!" Kurenai said, leaping up to the skylight and snatching a piece of cloth that was caught on the sill.

"It looks like a piece of clothing" Kiba said, and sniffed it. He recoiled immediately, like he had seen a ghost. "Whoever that belonged to, they aren't a good person"

The cloth was mostly black, with some red in the top right corner. "We better take this to the Hokage right now" Kurenai said "Hinata couldn't have left long ago, maybe ten minutes at most"

"I'll come with you" Hiashi said. The others nodded in agreement, and they all took off through the broken window.

They reached the Hokage tower in a minute and nearly broke the door down running in. The fifth hokage, Tsunade, looked up from her desk at the new arrivals.

"What the hell is so important that you have to come raging in here faster then Naruto?" Tsunade said angrily, standing up.

"Lady Hokage, we think Hinata Hyuga's been kidnapped" Kurenai gasped, worn out from running here so fast.

The eyes of the hokage widened. "What evidence do you have of this?" she inquired, looking at each of them in turn.

"We found these in her room. Hinata was supposed to meet us for a mission tonight, but when we went to her house to see if she was there, we found a broken window and those things in her room." Kurenai said, Hiashi standing beside her. She put the clay spider and the piece of cloth on the desk, making the eyes of the Hokage widen even more.

Furiously, Tsunade pulled open a cabinet in her desk and slammed a file down on it. She flipped through the pages and when she stopped, she read down the page like lightning.

"As I feared" The Hokage said, closing her eyes. "That piece of cloth you found. I recognize it as a piece from an Akatsuki cloak, which means that they have taken Hinata. Since they usually travel in pairs, there's no way she could stand up to two of them."

"Now, take a look at this" Tsunade said, turning around the folder and holding it up. There was a picture on the top of a page, of a young, blonde, longhaired man who had some kind of machine over his left eye. The picture seemed to have been taken at a glance, and the man had his face turned away.

"His name is Deidara. He's a young member of the Akatsuki, and a rogue ninja from the village hidden in the stones." Tsunade explained, her fingers interlocked and holding up her chin. "We know very little about him, but from what Jiriaya gathered, he uses a special type of jutsu that lets him use exploding clay"

Everyone looked at the little spider, and even Kiba took a small step back. "He's considered extremely dangerous, and is partnered with none other then this guy" Tsunade said again, flipping the page to reveal a picture of a large man, who had all but his eyes covered. Just like Deidara, he wore an Akatsuki cloak.

"This one is named Sasori, hes another rogue ninja, except hes from the sand village. Apparently he's a puppet master, like the Kazekage's brother Kankuro." Tsunade stood up. "From what you've told me, Hinata was kidnapped by these two"

"We need to go after her!" Kiba cried out, stepping forward. "Come on lady hokage, just assemble a team and we'll bring her back in a flash!"

Kurenai put a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Kiba, these are two s-rank criminals, each one could go toe-to-toe with our hokage if they had to, do you really think a team of such abilities would be able to stop them?"

Kiba fell silent, his face falling in despair, just as Shino's head perked up. "Milady, I believe I can track Hinata without a problem."

Everyone's eyes turned to the young Aburame in intrest. "Shino, what do you mean?" Hiashi asked.

"Ever since Sasuke left the village and I couldn't track him myself, I put into place an… insurance policy should it happen again," he explained, and one hand appeared from his pocket, one finger held in the air. On the finger rested a single, black beetle. "It's a female Kikachu, and I've planted one on most of the people I care about."

Kiba grinned, followed by Kurenai, who smiled in pride. Hiashi and Tsunade, however, were still hopelessly confused. "Normally, the female's pheromones are deactivated when not in mating season, or I can choose to deactivate them myself. When I turn them on, the males will crawl across the earth to find the female if they have to"

Eyes sparkling in understanding, Tsunade smiled now, followed by Hiashi. Suddenly, Hiashi pushed forward, his eyes turning solid and serious. "Milady, I request to head an ANBU Black Ops team to search for Hinata"

Tsunade sat down, nodding her head in sympathy. "Very well Hiashi. Your skills are greater then most in the leaf village, but I want you to bring Kurenai and her team with you, to better track Hinata"

Hiashi looked at Kurenai and nodded once. "I'll leave at once Lady Hokage. Kurenai, let us meet at the front gate in twenty minutes" he wasted no more time, leaving the room in a swirl of white robes.

"Very well. Kurenai, you, Kiba and Shino are to leave immediately, meet Hiashi by the gate and bring Hinata back" Tsunade explained, silently dismissing Kurenai by turning her head downward.

Team eight left silently, leaping out the window, heading for the gate. As they moved, all only though of one thing: bringing their Hinata back. No matter the cost.

A/N: Not bad? I thought it was a decent chapter. I'm making the next one mostly about the chase for Hinata, followed by her meeting Itachi and Kisame. At any rate, I'm pumped to see what I can throw out, I hope you are too!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter Four

To catch a predator

Time: 9:04 PM

Location: just outside the Leaf Village

Hiashi led the team, running through the forest like a possessed man. Flanking him were three elite members of the ANBU Black Ops, all dressed in their usual armor and animal masks. Behind them were Kurenai, Kiba and Akamaru, and Shino.

But in front of Hiashi, a black cloud floated in front of him, moving just as fast as he. The cloud shifted constantly, since it was made of Shino's Kikachu, all males, of course. Shino had activated the female who he had placed on Hinata pheromones', and now the males flew toward that scent the female was giving off.

Not only that, Kiba, who was riding Akamaru, contributed too. While Shino's insects were far more sensative then Akamaru's nose, they could not pinpoint exactly where Hinata was, just her insect. So, Akamaru had sniffed a piece of Hinata's clothing, and now was zoning in on Hinata.

Suddenly, Kiba sniffed the air, making a face. Akamaru barked and growled. "Stop! Everyone, stop!" He yelled, instantly bringing the team to a halt. Kiba sniffed again, and pulled out a Kunai knife. "Look out! We're under attack!"

Just as he said it, one single figure leaped from the tree's, landing in front of the group. He was massive, like a turtle cloaked in Akatsuki robes. The way he looked marked him as Sasori of the Red Sand, a puppet master and rogue ninja from the sand village.

Sasori clearly was not one for talking, firing a storm of senbalm from his mouth, each one coated with a lethal poison. Everyone leaped over the needles, then attacked instantly. Shino's hand flew from his pockets, and from his sleeves came hundreds of insects, which flew to attack Sasori.

"Akamaru! Let's go pal" Kiba said, his dog taking up position beside him. "Ninja Art: Human Mimicry!" There was a poof of smoke, and Akamaru took up the form of his master, mirroring his image perfectly. They both ran at Sasori, roaring a battle cry.

The ANBU all attacked in different ways. One made several hand signs, then instantly a raging whirlpool formed above his head, which he threw at Sasori. Another drew a wicked-looking sword from his back, and suddenly it was lit ablaze by fire, and he ran at the Akatsuki member.

The last one was more subtle. One stood beside Kurenai, making hand signs and muttering under his breath. It took Sasori mere seconds for his vision to blur, everything turning black, and he knew he was under a genjutsu. Surging chakra through his body, he broke it in seconds, then fired more needles at the ANBU, making him duck for cover. Finally, Kurenai used her powerful genjutsu skills to try and immobilize Sasori, while Hiashi charged his gentle fist and attacked him, running head on.

Sasori didn't even blink. He leaped, avoiding the various attacks, and then suddenly an arm appeared from his sleeve, revealing his mechanical hand. It began to rotate quickly, and suddenly at least a dozen sticks of wood flew from it, and then those sticks split up, revealing hundreds of poisoned senbalm in each.

The leaf shinobi acted fast. Hiashi suddenly began to spin, activating Eight Trigrams, Rotation, and repelling all the senbalm back at Sasori. Unable to dodge them in the air, Sasori used his iron tail, managing to block most of the needles.

Kiba and Akamaru took a step back, then took off into the forest. "_I'm coming Hinata. I'll make sure you come back safe to the village, even if I don't_" he thought, following Hinata's scent.

He didn't have to look far. He and Akamaru ran into a clearing, to find Hinata sitting at the base of a tree, playing with some grass. "Hinata! Oh my god, are you okay?" Kiba ran to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Kiba! What are you doing here? Are you here to train with us too?" Hinata asked, not showing any concern.

"Hinata, we need to get you back to the village now! It's not safe for you here… wait a second, did you say 'us'?" Kiba said, his eyes narrowing in puzzlement.

"Yeah. Oh yes, you haven't met my friends yet!" Hinata said, smiling and getting to her feet.

"Who?" Kiba asked. All of a sudden, a new scent found its way to his nose, and he spun around. Beside him, Akamaru growled, baring his canines in what could only be described as hatred.

"Why, me of course. Right Hinata?" came a new voice. Kiba looked, and saw a man, walking out of the trees. He had long, blonde hair, and covering his left eye was some kind of machine, he also wore a headband with a slash through it, bearing the emblem of the hidden stone village.

But most prominent were his clothes. He wore a black cloak that enveloped his body up to his chin, decorated with blood red clouds. This was Deidara, the one who had owned the spider, and the one who had brought Hinata here.

"You stay away from her you bastard" Kiba growled, pulling out two kunai and getting down on his knees, in preparation for his All Fours jutsu.

"Kiba! Don't talk to Deidara like that! He's one of my best friends!" Hinata cried, pushing Kiba's shoulder angrily.

Kiba spun around, wearing an expression that said, "Oh my god, are you friggin kidding me?"

Hinata recoiled in shock at what her teammate had just told her. "Kiba, what are you talking about?"

Kiba turned back to the Akatsuki member, a snarl on his lips that would have made even Kakashi look away. "What did you do to her!" Kiba roared, getting down on all fours again.

Deidara chuckled and whipped the hair from his eyes. "I've done nothing, you aught to talk to my man Sasori about that. Speaking of him, by now he's most likely finishing off your little friends"

"YOU MONSTER! ARGH!" Kiba roared, speeding toward Deidara so fast he was a blur, Akamaru following. Deidara leaped at the last second, over Kiba's head and threw something at him.

Kiba looked just in time to see a miniscule clay bird speeding toward him like a bullet. He rolled to the side, and the bird exploded when it hit the ground, throwing Kiba back. Akamaru ran over to his master, nudging him and whining. Kiba stirred, pulling himself up.

"Lets GO Akamaru!" Kiba said, forming the tiger hand sign. "Ninja Art: Human and Beast Mimicry!" At once, Akamaru turned into a copy of his master, while Kiba took on the aspects of Akamaru, growling and snarling at Deidara. "Now, lets TEAR THIS GUY APART!" Kiba yelled, and both he and Akamaru ran toward their enemy, spinning while in the air until they were nothing but a blur.

"FANG OVER FANG!" Kiba roared, both he and Akamaru hitting the Akatsuki member dead on and tossing him into the air. Deidara fell back to the ground with a crash, landing on his back and spitting up… clay?

Kiba's eyes widened, as the body of the Akatsuki member dissolved slowly into a puddle of white clay. Deidara had used his powers and made a literal clone out of clay to fool Kiba. Kiba looked around, and noticed Hinata was gone.

He roared in anger and caught onto her scent immediately, climbing onto Akamaru and taking off into the forests, following Hinata's oh-so delicate scent of lavender. He placed his hands on Akamaru's mane and funneled his chakra through him to his feet, making the dog run several times faster.

Then, a scent caught Kiba's nose again. His face spun to his right, to see Deidara leaping at him with a kunai. Trying to dodge, Kiba twisted, but the Akatsuki member crashed into him, sending him flying off Akamaru into the grass-covered ground.

Kiba jumped to his feet, looking for Deidara. Suddenly, he was tackled from behind, and he fell again, falling face first into the dirt. Deidara turned Kiba onto his face and smiled sadistically. Akamaru flew out of nowhere, pouncing on the bomber, but Deidara was ready for the dog.

Out of nowhere, a crude clay bird flew in and crashed into Akamaru. The hound whined and then roared in anger, trying to attack the bird. Deidara smiled and made a hand sign. The bird exploded, sending Akamaru flying and crashing into a nearby tree. He fell to the ground and didn't move.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba yelled in pain, as if Deidara had hurt him and not his best friend. Deidara laughed, then looking at Kiba with a fake sad expression. "I'm sorry, but all rapid dogs need to be put down eventually"

"I swear to god I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do" Kiba snarled, raw hatred and fury in his eyes.

Deidara laughed again. "Listen my little friend, your buddy Hinata belongs to us now. Should you try to get her back, we'll kill her, and then you. Now, I'm going to walk away, and you will not follow us. Trust me, it won't be pretty if you do"

Deidara reached behind him, and pulled a kunai from his back pocket. "And just to make sure, this should keep you in place" Deidara stabbed the kunai into Kiba's left arm, impaling it and piercing the ground below. Kiba screamed in pain, and writhed in obvious agony.

"That kunai is dipped in some of my man Sasori's poison. With that poison in you, you'll live for probably three days, all of which will be filled with raw agony. Then you'll die" Deidara smiled again, getting up off Kiba and walking away into the woods.

That was the last time Kiba saw Deidara before he vanished. Kiba roared in fury and agony, the poison now coursing through his entire arm. He tried to scream again, to make some kind of sound, but he couldn't move his mouth from the raw agony. Kiba's eyes slowly closed, all sense of time and place disappeared, and the eyes shut.

**Meanwhile…**

Kurenai fell to her knees in despair. Halfway through the battle, Sasori stopped, then said he had done his job and disappeared into the trees. Hiashi was unconscious from the pounding that iron tail had given him, and two of the ANBU Black Ops were dead. One had been impaled by that godforsaken tail, the other had senbalm protruding from his chest like porcupine needles.

Shino was the only one who was mostly unharmed. Since there were no medical ninja on this mission, Shino was injecting some of his Kikachu into Kurenai, Hiashi and the remaining ANBU Black Op, so the parasitic insects would break down the poison Sasori used.

The last ANBU had gone back to the village to fetch ninja from the medical core, as he was the one with the least injuries. Kurenai already been treated, Shino was working on Hiashi. Suddenly, Kurenai noticed they were one member short.

"Where's Kiba?" She said, fear in her voice. She closed her eyes and felt the surrounding area with a chakra probe, and she detected a very faint signal, coming from the northeast.

Instantly, she took off into the brush and ran toward the signal, feeling it getting weaker rather then stronger with every second. Her crimson eyes filled with worry for her student, Kiba was never as close to her as Hinata was, but he was still one of the most powerful and righteous genin she had ever seen.

She broke into a clearing, and her eyes widened in horror. Kiba was lying on the ground; a kunai had impaled his left arm, preventing him from moving. He was twitching uncontrollably with his eyes closed, and before her eyes he screamed in agony, then was silent again.

Glancing upward, she saw Akamaru was no better off. The hound was leaning against a tree on its side, and he wasn't moving. His belly was decorated with black burn marks, and blood poured from some of the wounds he had.

She fell to her knees, tears in her eyes, and crawled over to her student. She wailed in pain at the sight of her young squad mate like this. She couldn't pull out the kunai now, as it was all that kept him from bleeding to death. But if she didn't pull it out, more of the poison Sasori used could be flowing through his system.

She wailed again, and maybe that was what saved her. Three ninja came through the tree's, landing next to her. They were dressed in full white outfits, and bore the leaf headband on their brows.

"Kurenai, are you all right?" one of the ninja asked.

She could only nod and more tears came from her eyes. She managed to point at Kiba and Akamaru and then slumped, not wanting to see them anymore.

The three medical ninja put Kiba and Akamaru on stretchers, and then ran into the trees. Kurenai managed to stand and follow them, praying to god that not only Kiba, but Hinata too would be all right.

A/N: Not a bad chapter. Maybe a little bit shorter then I would have liked, but whatever. I was going to throw in a small bit about the Akatsuki but I thought it would be better to save it for the next chapter. If you're upset about the gore, sorry, I didn't know I was going to write it originally, and perhaps watching the dark knight had some influence on this chapter too.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Five

New Plans

Time: 11:57 PM

Location: Akatsuki's Hidden Lair, Land of Rivers.

The water flowed down the river at a high speed, the current daring to wash away anything or anyone who got in its way. There were stories of people who had fallen in the river and had never been seen again. Standing proudly in the center of the river was a red wooden structure shaped like a square, holding its own against the strength of the river.

Sasori stood on the river, unmoving, his eyes fixed on the cliff in front of him. He grunted impatiently, waiting for his comrade to arrive. Every single person in the Akatsuki knew about Sasori's loathing of waiting, and the sometimes-fatal repercussions of keeping the puppet master in wait.

As Sasori watched through his puppet armor's eyes, he saw Deidara leap off the cliff and land on the water with a splash, followed by Hinata, who wore a warm smile.

"Deidara, where have you been? You know I don't like to be kept WAITING!" Sasori lashed out with his tail, narrowly missing Deidara's head, so closely that the bomber could feel the air whistle from the attack.

"My my, aren't we grumpy?" Deidara smiled, frowning at the same time to mock his partner vaguely.

"Oh come on guys, don't fight" Hinata said, stepping between the two. Even now, Deidara couldn't believe this was the girl who they were supposed to kidnap being so co-operative. Sasori's brainwashing jutsu really was incredible.

"My apologies Hinata" Deidara said, taking her hand and pecking it with his lips for an instant in apology. Hinata blushed madly, and inside his armor, Sasori rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Sasori stepped in front of the boulder and muttered under his breath. The mighty rock rolled aside, and the three walked into the cave. Sasori had no trouble navigating through the darkness, shuffling forward into the blackness.

Deidara and Sasori climbed the steps up to the statue where the Akatsuki had gathered before the mission. Hinata walked behind them, her hands behind her back. She was clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

As the three reached the top of the hands, the other figures began to appear, one at a time. Sasori and Deidara recognized them all, and as they all turned their heads, they saw Hinata standing behind Deidara, waving a small hand.

"It would appear you mission was a success Deidara, Sasori" Zetsu said, one of his eyes rising in interest.

"She's under a brainwashing jutsu, but we'll break it after we've finished here" Deidara said, inclining his head in respect to his fellow members.

"And so now, we train the girl to capture Naruto Uzumaki for us, correct?" Sasori spoke, but not making any indication to his words.

"Yes. Itachi, Kisame, that's your job. Break her will and make her serve us," Zetsu said, turning to the two members who stood opposite Deidara and Sasori. "And Kisame. I want her unharmed. She's no good to us dead."

The ex-mist ninja grunted in understanding, and the figures faded again. But the images of Itachi and Kisame stayed, standing in their spots. Suddenly, the images became colorful, and the holograms faded, replaced by the actual bodies of the two shinobi.

All four leaped onto the ground, followed by Hinata. Sasori turned to their hostage, and closed his eyes. When they snapped open, Hinata fell back, shaking her head and lying flat on her back.

"I broke the jutsu. This is where you take over." Sasori grumbled, turning back to Itachi and Kisame.

"Where does Zetsu get off telling us to babysit this little girl?" Kisame growled, shifting uncomfortably. Itachi looked on ahead, and then spoke at last.

"Deidara. Sasori. We shall take our leave now, until we meet again" Itachi said, then walked over to Hinata, slung her over his shoulder and teleported away with a single hand sign. Kisame followed suit, disappearing in a shroud of white smoke, and leaving the two Akatsuki members standing alone in the cavern.

"Well Sasori my man, it looks like we've got some free time on out hands," Deidara said, turning his head and smiling. Sasori said nothing, merely walking out of the cave, Hinata already out of his mind.

**Meanwhile…**

Hundreds of kilometers away, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigake materialized in the clearing. Itachi had chosen this spot to train Hinata, and he had picked it well. They were in a clearing in a mountain forest; three days walk from any village. This entire area was uncharted on most maps, and the chances of encountering anyone here were slim to none.

Itachi slid the girl off his shoulders and onto the grass. Kisame stood next to him, waiting for the girl to wake. They didn't have long to wait. Hinata's eyelids slowly opened, her pupil-less eyes scoping out the scene around her. She focused on Itachi, then on Kisame, and her eyes widened at the sight of those red and black cloaks.

She lay on her back, panting in fear. "W-w-what do you want with me?" she asked, her voice cracking in raw terror.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to hurt you" Itachi said, kneeling down to her level. Kisame stood, intimidating the girl with his size.

"I heard that once. Right before your friends attacked me and tried to kill me" Hinata said, a hint of venom in her words. As she spoke, memories flooded into her head like a river whose floodgate had been opened.

She remembered being woken up, fighting Deidara and Sasori, trying to get to the Hokage's tower, and then… the memories after that all seemed fuzzy. They were starting to form, but very slowly.

"Hinata, believe me. We are not your enemies, and we have no intention of harming you, despite our colleagues actions earlier." Itachi said, in a calm, smooth voice. The words he said felt like they were dipped in oil, waiting to ignite at any time.

"Well, if you don't want to hurt me, why am I here?" Hinata said, sitting up now, trying to see into Itachi's eyes.

"We saved you Hinata" Itachi said, his expression remaining neutral. "Those two who tried to capture you were our associates, Deidara and Sasori. We are trying to help you escape from that horrible village you call home."

"What are you talking about?" Hinata's eyes widened, not believing what she heard. "The leaf village has always been and always will be my home, how dare you insult it!"

Itachi showed no emotion once again, but Kisame frowned. "Hinata, despite what you may think, you have a massive amount of talent, and nobody appreciated you. We brought you here so your full potential could be recognized, and not wasted in that dead-end village"

Hinata looked down in embarrassment. Despite what she didn't like to believe, this man was right. She wasn't sure if she had as much talent as he said, but everyone certainly underappreciated her. Her father, Neji, her fellow ninja, she was never recognized at all. It wasn't fair.

"Hinata, I know you're hurt, but we can help you. My partner and me are going to train you, to become stronger then anyone your village has ever seen. Then you can show everyone how wrong they were" Itachi said, his mouth curving upward in a very tiny smile.

Hinata's mouth turned upward in a small smile as well. "But, when can I go back and show them how strong I am?" she asked, fidgeting nervously.

"We'll get you back to the village as soon as we can" Itachi said, standing up again and reaching a hand out to her. She took his hand, getting to her feet, to find she was almost as tall as he.

"What's your name?" Hinata asked, finally her eyes drifted to Kisame, and she immediately looked back to Itachi in fear.

"My name is Itachi, and my partner is Kisame" the ex-leaf shinobi explained. Kisame grinned, showing shark-like teeth.

"Now, it's late, why don't we set up camp?" Itachi said, walking toward the forest edge. "Kisame, give me a hand"

Kisame walked over, and Hinata noticed the long sword wrapped in bandages strapped to his back. Itachi formed a hand sign, and spoke roughly.

"Earth Style jutsu!" Itachi said, and Kisame followed suit.

"Water Style jutsu!" Kisame said, forming the same hand sign.

The two worked in perfect sync, molding their chakra together. Both of the men knew that wind style and earth style combined to form wood style chakra. So, using the resulting wood style chakra, they created a wooden house, two stories tall.

In seconds, the jutsu was done, and both of the ninja put there hands down. Hinata looked in awe, seeing the power these two wielded, and they were going to teach her!

The doors of the structure opened, and inside Hinata found all the furniture was made of wood. Maybe a bit uncomfortable but nonetheless better then sleeping outside. Itachi and Kisame followed, and Itachi couldn't help but crack a small smile at the work he had just done.

"Hinata, pick whatever room you wish, we'll begin your training first thing tomorrow morning" Itachi said, and walked into another room. Kisame walked off on his own, only pausing to flash Hinata a grin and then continuing on.

Hinata pulled off her backpack and pulled out her sleeping bag. She laid it out and lay down, staring up at the wooden ceiling. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of these two powerful shinobi training her. As Hinata closed her eyes to sleep, she couldn't wait for the day she returned to the leaf village and showed everyone her strength. She would show them.

She would show them all.

**The Next Morning…**

Kiba Inuzuka's eyes slowly opened, squinting at the light emitted from the massive lamps. He tried moving, bad idea. As soon as he even twitched his body was racked with aching and pain. He lay still, trying to remember what had happened.

It all came back to him in an instant. Hinata being kidnapped, him chasing after her, his fight with Deidara. The memories stopped after Deidara had thrust a kunai in his arm, the pain must have caused him to black out. Kiba looked around, and saw he was in a hospital bed.

"You're finally awake huh?" asked a familiar voice

Kiba turned and managed to smile a little. "Hey sis"

Hana was sitting beside Kiba's bed, her arms crossed and a smile on her face. She sat in a large red armchair, and her three ninja hounds lay sleeping on the floor next to her.

"You took quite a beating little brother, you're lucky to be alive" Hana said "Who did this to you?"

"His name is…" Kiba coughed, a trickle of blood running from his mouth. "Deidara. He's a member of the Akatsuki"

"Only you would be stupid enough to try to take on an s-class criminal all by yourself Kiba" Hana said, shaking her head.

"He beat me and Akamaru to a… Wait! Where's Akamaru!" Kiba tried sitting up, but an intense pain in his midsection forced him back down.

"Easy Kiba, Akamaru's okay. I took care of him myself. He's got major burns and several large wounds, but I patched him up, and he's going to be fine." Hana explained, placing a hand on her brother's forehead.

"What about Hinata, did we find her?" Kiba asked, wincing in pain.

Hana shook her head, eyes closed. "No. Last I heard, a squad of ANBU Black Ops went after the two who took her, but they lost the trail soon after leaving. Those Akatsuki sure know how to cover their tracks."

Kiba fell back on the pillow. "Damn it" he swore.

"Sakura says you're going to be here for a while yet. That poison that got into you would have been fatal if we had left it untreated for longer, not to mention your intense injuries like in your arm from that kunai" Hana explained.

At that exact moment, Sakura Haruno walked into the room, wearing a white nurses outfit. She had a smile on her face and a clipboard in her hand.

"How are you feeling Kiba?" Sakura asked, kneeling beside the bed.

"Like I've had a mountain fall on me, but it's an improvement" Kiba replied, managing to crack a miniscule smile and trying to sit up again.

"Well, I don't care how good you feel, you aren't leaving this bed for at least another week." Sakura said, pushing Kiba back onto the bed. "Your arm was fully impaled by that kunai knife, even with my own and a good number of the hospitals medical ninja's healing ninjutsu, it will take a while for it to heal"

Hana stood up. "Thank you so much for taking care of him Sakura"

"It's what I do. Anyway Kiba, try to get some sleep, I'll be back in an hour or so to check on you" Sakura said, patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the room.

Hana walked out as well, pausing to give Kiba a kiss on the forehead. Kiba lay back on the pillow and closed his eyes, falling asleep in minutes.

**Meanwhile…**

"WHAT?" Naruto roared, slamming his fist down on the desk.

"Naruto I'm sorry, but we're doing all we can to find Hinata" Tsunade said calmly, her head resting in her hands.

"But why can't I go to find her! She's my friend and I'll bring her back before you know it!" he yelled, an expression of rage on his face.

"No Naruto, you won't" Tsunade said firmly, her hands coming undone. "Last night, Hiashi Hyuga, Kurenai, Kiba, Shino and three ANBU Black Ops went after Hinata. Two of the ANBU were killed, and the others are in the hospital. And this morning we sent another squad of ANBU after the trail, and they came up short."

The Hokage closed her eyes. "I know you're strong Naruto, and I know you want to help your friend, but there I simply can't send you out after her, you'll be killed for certain. And I know more then a few people who couldn't bear losing you"

"_Including myself_" Tsunade thought, but she didn't say that.

Naruto's hands were clenched into fists so hard his knuckles were white. "What if I assemble a team? I'm sure we could find her!"

Tsunade thought. "If you're going to go through with this, then I'm going to pick out a few team members for you. Kiba and Shino are a must, but until they get out of the hospital you're stuck here."

"I also want you to take Neji, and Rock Lee. Finally, Yamato will lead the squad. I wanted to give you Sakura, but her services are required here in the village" Tsunade stood up, walking over to the window and looking out on the village. "Naruto, until Kiba and Shino are discharged from the hospital, I want you to stay in the village. And if you leave beforehand, I'll have no choice to but to exile you from the village and brand you a rogue ninja"

Naruto's face was nearly split in two by his grin. "Thank you grandma Tsunade, I guess I should go tell the others about the mission. I promise, I won't disappoint you"

Naruto wasted no time, tearing out the front door and running off. Tsunade smiled, still looking out the window. "I'm sure you won't Naruto. I know you won't"

A/N: And that's that. A bit filler-ish, but I thought it was a good place to break it. Anyway, next chapter is all about Itachi and Kisame training Hinata, oh boy! Fight scenes! Enjoy yourselves!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Six

Sharingan or Byakugan

Time: 10:26 AM

Location: Unknown

Hinata's eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the scene around her. She remembered quickly about last night, Itachi and Kisame, the house and her training. The excitement of remembering she would be getting stronger today went through her like a jolt of lightning.

She climbed out of her small sleeping bag and walked outside, where the two Akatsuki members were waiting, watching her. "Good morning Hinata. Shall we get started?" Itachi asked.

"Yes please!" Hinata said, shivering a little with excitement.

Now Kisame stepped forward. "Good. Defend yourself!" Kisame said, and drew the massive, bandage wrapped sword from his back and charged at Hinata, a grin on his face.

Hinata was frozen with fear at the massive figure rushing at her, but settled into a defensive stance and activated her Byakugan with a hand sign. Kisame was nearly on top of her when Hinata moved, slipping past his guard and through his legs and landing behind him.

Now Hinata attacked, charging her gentle fist and hitting thirteen of Kisame's chakra points, earning a grunt of pain from the sword master. He swung around, swinging his sword at her, which Hinata tried to block by amplifying her hand with chakra. But when the sword hit Hinata's hands, it didn't stop, smashing into the rest of her body and sending her flying.

She landed ten meters away on the grass, and groaning, pulled herself up. She looked at that massive sword again, to see that a small bit of the bandages on the end had unwrapped, revealing not a blade but some sort of dark blue scales on the end.

"A word of warning little one, my Shark Skin isn't like other swords, it literally devours chakra. So trying to block it is completely pointless, you had better move fast and dodge instead" Kisame warned, grinning and showing his shark-like teeth.

He charged again, Shark Skin held high and roaring a battle cry. Hinata dove under the sword again and hit nearly thirty chakra points on Kisame's stomach, making him double over in pain. Then, she focused all of her chakra in her fist and slammed his stomach. Using he Byakugan, she saw his intestines had been displaced with that attack, a nearly fatal move.

Kisame fell down in pain, and burst into water. Hinata gasped, a water clone jutsu, but where was the real one? Kisame didn't keep her waiting, landing on her from above, which Hinata barely dodged and managed to hit several more chakra points.

But Kisame was ready this time. He swung around and landing a savage kick into Hinata's stomach, making her slam into the ground and land on her back. Before she could move, Kisame was on top of her, Shark Skin at her throat, and those shark teeth staring her in the face.

Kisame got off, and walked back away over to Itachi. "Decent. You'll need to work hard if you want to improve though. Your gentle fist was very powerful, it hurt a lot." Kisame judged, leaning on his sword.

Itachi stepped forward. "Now it's my turn. Come at me Hinata, try to kill me," he said, activating the infamous Sharingan. Lucky for Hinata, she was immune to the Tsukuyomi as long as her Byakugan was activated.

She charged her gentle fist and ran at Itachi. He made no move to defend himself until she was right in front of him, and twisted around, grabbing her neck and pulling out a kunai, and held it to her throat. Hinata poofed into a cloud of smoke, and Itachi found himself holding an old log.

Hinata struck from behind, savagely attacking Itachi with her gentle fist, and although she managed to strike a few, the Uchiha caught on quick, and spun around, making several hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi said, and unleashed a massive sphere of flame from his mouth, placing two of his fingers beside his mouth. Hinata acted instantly, and readied her chakra.

"Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" Hinata said, and used her chakra to attack the fireball, slicing a hole through the sphere and emerging from the conflagration unharmed.

Itachi's crimson eyes narrowed, and he moved, making more hand signs. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!". Above the Uchiha's head, a dragon's head made of flames appeared, and opened its maw. A massive inferno of flames came from its mouth, setting the grass afire and speeding at the Hyuga girl.

Since the flames weren't as condensed as the earlier fireball, so her protective eight trigrams wouldn't be able to protect her from the fire. Hinata leaped backward, doing flips and somersaults as fast as she could, trying to escape the flames.

Itachi ran through the flames again, coming out right in front of Hinata. Itachi knew he couldn't fight her with his Taijutsu, since her gentle fist was far stronger then his own Taijutsu. So right before he emerged from his flames, he created shadow clones, four of them just to test her.

The four Itachi's attacked from all sides, trying to defeat the Hyuga. She was far faster then even him though, and not only dodged each one of his attacks, she counterattacked with startling speed, and destroyed all four of his shadow clones in seconds.

Itachi frowned with anger. This girl would not upstage him, and he made more hand signs, preparing for his final attack. "Now, it's over! Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Itachi said loudly, and he fired a barrage of tiny fireballs from his mouth, aimed at Hinata.

She was ready with her protective eight trigrams, and using her chakra, she managed to ward off the flames. Itachi stood there, his eyes closed. Hinata tried to see what he was doing using her Byakugan, and noticed he was readying his chakra for an attack. Then, Itachi slowly opened his eyes, and she saw his Sharingan had changed.

Where there once three small tomoe, now there was a single, larger pinwheel like symbol instead. Hinata couldn't know this was the ultimate form of the Sharingan, and the most powerful weapon in Itachi's arsenal, the feared Mangekyo Sharingan.

Itachi looked deep into Hinata's eyes, staring into her Byakugan, and trying to capture her in his ultimate Genjutsu. Hinata felt the feeling creeping over her, and tried to fight it, but Itachi was putting all of his power behind this attack. Using every last bit of his chakra, Itachi forced past her Kekkai Genkai and used the Tsukuyomi.

The next scene Hinata saw was that she was tied up to the ground, and that the entire world had changed. The sky was rust red, with a moon of jet-black, and all the color had been changed into black and white. In front of her stood Itachi, looking at her with his Sharingan.

"Hinata. You fought well, much better then I had thought, but now that you're in the Tsukuyomi, this fight is over." Itachi said, kneeling down to her level. "This is one of my most powerful jutsu, and the most powerful Genjutsu in existence. With it, I can create my very own world, you could be trapped here for days, while it would only take several seconds in the real world."

Hinata's eyes widened, and she tried to move. Surprisingly, the Uchiha let her, and with a great deal of effort, she managed to break the Genjutsu. When the real world began to shape around her, she saw Itachi fall to a kneel, and pant heavily. Kisame strode to him and helped him up.

"Unfortunately, using the Tsukuyomi is taxing. I can't sustain it for very long or I'll be too weak to fight." Itachi said, nodding his head in thanks at Kisame.

"So, how well did I fight?" Hinata asked, fidgeting absentmindedly.

"Your Taijutsu is very impressive when combined with that Gentle Fist, but I think you would need some more Ninjutsu if you want to be a true terror on the battlefield." Kisame said, Shark Skin in his hand.

"Your agility is also impressive. Combined with your Protective Eight Trigrams, you are very skilled at defense Hinata. But you must focus more on your offense should you wish to truly become more powerful" Itachi said, deactivating his Sharingan.

Hinata nodded. "Could you two teach me new jutsu?"

"Yes. Unfortunately you won't be able to learn more powerful jutsu of mine that require use of the Sharingan, such as my Tsukuyomi. But we have other jutsu as well" Itachi explained.

Kisame stepped forward. "Water style techniques are my specialty, and so I can teach you those, as well as Taijutsu and maybe even give you a weapon"

"And I am prominent with Fire style jutsu, as well as many other types of jutsu that I've copied with my Sharingan" Itachi said.

"Well, why don't we start with something simple?" Hinata asked, shifting around in restlessness.

"Of course, let us begin" Itachi said, and a hint of a smile crossed his face. All was going as planned.

**Meanwhile…**

Neji Hyuga was sitting on the roof of the Hyuga mansion, looking at the sky. It was cloudy today, rain was on the horizon, and that electrical storm was still present outside the village, preventing everyone from going anywhere without running the risk of getting killed. He wondered if Hinata could see the storm, wherever she was.

Neji was furious at himself for not being there for her. He was in the village, training, when it happened, and he could have stopped those godforsaken kidnappers from taking his little cousin. Although he had never said it aloud, he did love her in a platonic way. After all, she was his cousin.

Neji slammed his fist down on the roof, shaking the rooftop and leaving a dent the size of his head. He grunted in anger and winced, his head in his hands. He felt something roll down his face, and his hand moved up to his cheek and dabbed his finger on the wetness. It was a tear, Neji's eyes widened.

He had never cried in his life. Not since he received the godforsaken caged bird seal on his forehead. And yet now, when Hinata had been kidnapped, he was crying. Neji clenched his fist, and looked into the sky.

"_I'll find you Hinata, wherever you are. I'll bring you home_" Neji thought, his fist shaking. Suddenly, a figure dressed in orange and black landed in front of him with a thud, he stood up and looked at Neji.

"Neji. I'm sorry about Hinata" Naruto said, sitting down beside him.

"It wasn't your fault Naruto. You have no reason to apologize" Neji retorted, still watching the grey clouds.

"Hey, uh, listen. The Hokage authorized me to put together a team so we could find Hinata. It's going to be me, you, Shino, Kiba, Lee, and captain Yamato leading the squad." Naruto said, trying to draw a reaction from the Hyuga.

"If you're asking for my consent to go on this team, I accept." Neji said, turning to Naruto

"Yeah I was. Kiba and Shino are in the hospital, but as soon as they get out we'll hit the road." Naruto said, smiling and standing up "I'll contact you when they're discharged"

Naruto leaped away, off toward the South. Ichiraku's of course, Neji chuckled. He leaped up from his spot and into the house to rest.

**Meanwhile…**

Lee was sparring when Naruto found him. Might Guy, his sensei, was with him. The two were exchanging rapid kicks and punches, moving nearly faster then Naruto could follow. Naruto watched from the side, as Lee threw a roundhouse kick at his sensei's head.

Guy blocked and nearly hit his student in the chest with a punch, but Lee twisted away and used a sweeping kick to knock Guy off his feet. Lee shot another well-placed kick at his fallen sensei, but Guy rolled away and leaped to his feet. Running at Lee, he came in with a flying kick and hit Lee hard in the chest.

Lee turned the momentum into a flying somersault, landing on his feet. Both of the men were panting, and Guy at last broke into a fit of laughter. "Good job Lee! You've been training hard, lets take a short break"

"Thank you Guy-sensei!" Lee said, saluting him. Naruto at last came out of the bushes, confident it was safe now.

"Hey Lee, Guy-sensei!" Naruto said, waving a hand in greeting.

"Ah, Naruto! It is good to see you here!" Lee said, giving him his trademark smile.

"Naruto! Have you come to spar with us?" Guy asked, standing behind his student.

"Actually I came to talk to Lee" Naruto said, turning his attention to the younger of the two. "Lee, have you heard about Hinata yet?"

Lee's head fell. "Yes. It is a tragedy indeed, Neji is truly upset about it" Guy looked down behind him

"Well, grandma Tsunade said that I could form a team to go look for Hinata. It's going to be me, you, Neji, Shino, Kiba and captain Yamato. I just thought I would ask if you wanna come?"

"Naruto, of course! I will find Hinata with you and bring her back to the leaf village! This I vow as a leaf shinobi!" Lee said, raising his hand in a vow.

"That's the way to do it Lee! A true ninja never goes back on his word!" Guy said, and gave his trademark smile and a thumbs up.

"Thank you Guy-sensei! We should get back to training now should we not?" Lee said, turning to his sensei.

"That's my student Lee! Life is too short to waste your precious gift of youth!" Guy said, and with Lee right behind him, he took off into the forest, kicking up a small dust storm in his wake. Naruto laughed, something about those two just cracked him up.

Naruto leaped into the skies above the trees, so far that he could see the entire village. Those dark clouds were still overhead, and there was sure to be a rain storm soon enough. Naruto looked to the horizon, and wondered if Hinata could see the clouds too. Wherever she may be.

A/N: I know I kind of repeated the ending, but I couldn't think of another way to close the chapter. **Please note that in the next chapter there is a one-week time skip**. Next up, the search for Hinata begins! Enjoy yourselves!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Seven

The Search For Hinata Begins!

Time: 7:48 PM

Location: Hidden Leaf Village

Shino Aburame, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee and Yamato stood at the entrance gate to the leaf village, waiting for the stragglers to show. Neji made a mental note to punch Naruto and Kiba for being late on the mission that would rescue his younger cousin. This was serious, couldn't they be early just this once?

Sure enough, just that second a massive white hound tore down the street, Kiba and Naruto on its back. Akamaru barked in excitement as his riders urged him on toward the group. Right before he would hit the others, Akamaru jammed his large white paws into the dirt, bringing himself to a steady halt.

Yamato sighed as Naruto and Kiba hopped off the dog and Kiba rubbed the beast's head, earning a happy bark from Akamaru. Those two were late, as usual.

"You're late Kiba. Naruto" Shino said in a dull monotone. Neji shook his head in annoyance.

"Sorry guys, we had to get something to eat before the mission!" Naruto said laughing and high-fiving Kiba.

"At least we're all here now, so lets get going" Yamato said, and everyone walked out the gate. After a few seconds, the six ninja leaped away, speeding through the trees away from the village. The electrical storm that had been outside the village for the last week had finally dissipated last night, allowing the leaf shinobi to leave the village.

As well, Kiba and Shino had left the hospital and to top it off, Sakura had developed an antidote to the poison Sasori used on his weapons. Shino was permanently immune, since after being poisoned his parasitic insects had isolated the poison and had learned how to stop it, but Shino carried five vials of antidote with him, one for every member of the team should they encounter the puppet master again.

Neji closed his eyes, forming a hand sign. "Byakugan!" he said, snapping his eyes open and activating his Kekkai Genkai. His sharp eyes scanned for kilometers in front of him, searching for any trace of his cousin. He scanned left and right, swinging his head from side to… there!

He saw a faint trace of Hinata's chakra. It was extremely weak and cold, but it was there nonetheless. "I see a trace of her chakra!" Neji said aloud, turning everyone's attention to him. Everyone stopped, and Neji fell to a kneel, tracing the chakra. His Byakugan could only see so far, and he reached his limit a few kilometers in front of him.

"It's headed west, toward the land of rivers" Neji said, and stood up. Kiba patted Akamaru on the head, whined and barked a few times and Akamaru nodded. The white hound leaped away, following the trace of Hinata's chakra scent. Meanwhile, Naruto made a hand sign and seven clones appeared behind him.

"Fan out and look for any trace of Hinata!" Naruto instructed, and the clones took off. Shino also helped, and he raised his arms, taking his hands from his pockets. From his sleeves came thousands of small flying insects. They buzzed and flew off, searching for their companions telltale chakra trail.

Although Akamaru and Naruto's clones wouldn't or couldn't go too far from Kiba or the original Naruto, Shino's bugs could and would find Hinata's chakra. The group took off again, following Neji who knew where he was going.

**Thirty Minutes Later…**

Neji and the others came out of the forest, landing on a cliff above a large, fast moving river. They had crossed the border of the fire nation not five minutes ago, and were now pretty far into the lands of rivers. Everyone leaped down, landing on the river and using their chakra to stand on the water.

In front of them stood a large red construct, in the shape of a square. Neji scanned the area, and saw that Hinata's trail led behind the massive wall of rock just behind the construct. Neji walked up and looked through the boulder, searching for any trace of traps.

"There's no way I can smash this thing" Neji said, tapping the boulder. "It's reinforced with a ton of chakra, I can think of only one of us who could do it"

"Lee, can you break this?" Neji asked, turning to his teammate.

"Of course" Lee confirmed, and walked back to the other side of the river. "Be warned, even my strength is not great enough to break such an obstacle, so I must resort to using my ultimate technique!"

Lee closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "The First Gate, Gate of Opening, open! The Second Gate, Gate of Rest, open!" Lee began to tense up, and veins appeared on his forehead and neck. "The Third Gate, Gate of Life, open!"

The air around Lee tensed up, static crackling and making his teammates step back. "THE FOURTH GATE, GATE OF PAIN, OPEN!" Lee roared, then kneeled and shot towards the boulder, his fist pulled back. He moved so fast even Neji with his Byakugan couldn't follow him, and the water split, making way for the boy.

The Taijutsu shinobi's fist connected with the boulder, and the entire area shook. Rocks fell from both sides of the river, and the water from the river erupted, breaking the surface and flying everywhere. Lee was frozen mid-punch, his fist still in contact with the still-solid boulder.

At that moment, the massive rock cracked, and within seconds, shattered. The strength behind the blow was so powerful, the boulder didn't just crumble, and the entire Cliffside fell away, falling into the river below with massive splashes. Lee immediately straightened out after the rock broke, standing up and the reddish color fading from his skin.

But before everyone's eyes, Lee fell. He landed on the water with a splash; even though unconscious his body was able to keep the chakra active so he could still keep afloat on the river. Naruto was there in a second, catching Lee and putting his arm over his shoulder.

"I think you overdid it a bit Lee" Naruto said to the unconscious boy. Naruto and the others walked forward, into the uncovered cave. Even though Lee had removed one of the walls, it was still completely black in here. The darkness felt, nearly solid to the five shinobi.

The cave was mostly empty, with only three massive statues standing at the back of the cave. Two were massive stone hands, with the fingers all serving as platforms. But the third was a monsters head, with nine eyes the size of a person on its stone head. The statue radiated evil and malice, and everyone was nervous around it.

Neji looked around with his Byakugan, looking for something that would give them a clue. Hinata's chakra trail ended here, by seemingly vanishing into thin air. But, Neji picked something else up too, the feeling of someone else's unfamiliar chakra, and the Hyuga boy knew what that meant. Someone else was here.

"There's someone else here!" Neji said, settling into a defensive stance. Everyone else took up battle positions, ready for an attack. It came silently and suddenly. White birds flew in from everywhere, flying directly at the leaf ninja.

They all scattered, leaping off to the sides. The birds hit the ground where they had been a second later and detonated. The blasts missed the leaf ninja by the skin of their necks, and everyone looked up at the source of the attacks. The statue of the hands had someone on top of one of the fingers, who stood up now.

Laughter filled the cavern, and the figure that stood up on the stone statues was causing it. The man leaped down and walked out of the shadows, revealing his long blonde hair. Kiba's eyes widened in horror, then his face turned to an expression of rage, and Akamaru snarled, recognizing the man as well.

Deidara laughed, his Akatsuki cloak flapping. The scope over his left eye took in the chakra levels of the five conscious shinobi, determining how strong of opponents they were. "Well, it would appear that I came here at the right time" Deidara chuckled.

"What have you done with Hinata?" Naruto roared, sliding Lee off of his shoulders and readying for an attack.

"Who? Oh, your little girlfriend!" Deidara laughed, brushing the hair from his eyes. "Well, since we're both after the same thing, I'll tell you. She's been taken away by two of our members"

"Where, is she?" Naruto said, snarling. Yamato frowned, not content with the situation. Naruto's pupils suddenly became slits, and his eyes turned a blood red.

"To be honest, I don't know. I could guess if you like" Deidara said dismissively.

"Why are you telling us this?" Neji asked, trying to read the man's chakra levels for any sign of him lying.

"Because we both want the same thing. I don't care for your girlfriend, I think she'll just get in the way of our ultimate plot, so I don't care if you get her back or not" Deidara said, noticing with his scope that Naruto's chakra was dramatically increasing.

"Naruto! Calm yourself down!" Yamato yelled, getting the leaf ninja to shake his head.

Naruto knew he was going to unleash his inner beast if he didn't calm down, so he forced his anger down. "As I was saying, your friend was taken off by two of our members. They used a teleportation jutsu, I don't know where they are now" Deidara said.

Neji stood up straight. "He's not lying. I don't sense any flux in his chakra"

"But. I know of a secret spot where she might be. Deep in the northlands. The two who took her have been there before, its uncharted on most maps" Deidara said. "It's at least a months journey north of here, farther north then the land of earth or lightning"

Yamato looked at Neji, who shook his head, confirming that Deidara was not lying. "Why are you helping us get Hinata back?"

Deidara laughed, throwing back his head. "Because I don't care. The girl would just get in the way of our plans, and I don't think its necessary to keep such a worthless person" There was another reason as well. Deidara loathed Itachi, and wanted to make him fail his mission. That Sharingan of his was an insult and a mockery to his art. But he didn't say that.

Kiba growled and Shino narrowed his eyes in anger. Naruto roared, forming a hand sign, but was stopped by Neji. "Then I guess, we'll be on our way now Deidara" Yamato said, turning out of the cavern.

Deidara's eye narrowed. In front of Yamato a small bird flew in front of him and detonated, preventing him from leaving. Everyone turned back to the Akatsuki member, who had backed up to the statue's base.

"I'm sorry. Despite me helping you with that advice, I can't let you leave. You've seen our base, and you cannot leave now. You'll expose our operation" Deidara said, smiling sadistically.

"I'm sorry to have gotten your hopes up only to crash them now, but your lives end here!" Deidara lifted his arms and thousands of clay spiders fell out, scurrying at the five ninja.

Shino acted immediately, reacting to the presence of the insectoid clay. Shino raised his arms and thousands of kikachu beetles flew out, zooming at the Akatsuki member. But Deidara easily countered, sending several birds at the flying bugs, detonating them and killing them all. The spiders all exploded, forcing the leaf ninja to leap back and gain range.

Yamato struck next, forming a hand sign. "Wood style jutsu!" he said, and tendrils of wood broke out of the ground, trying to catch Deidara. He leaped away into the air, and turned his head to see two Naruto's, one moving his hands around the others. A spinning blue orb of chakra formed with a loud noise.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled, thrusting the orb at Deidara's chest. The ex-stone shinobi twisted and grabbed Naruto's hand, using his own momentum to push Naruto away and Deidara forward. Now, from underneath Deidara, two spinning figures shot at him, twirling around each other in a grey cylinder.

"Fang over Fang!" Kiba roared, nearly hitting the Akatsuki member. But Deidara dodged at the last second, slipping in between the spinning figures. When he landed, Neji attacked, trying to smash Deidara's chakra points with his gentle fist. The bomber leaped and twisted backward, trying to get out of range.

Deidara formed a clay bird in his hand, forming a hand sign. The bird expanded, and he leaped on top of it, flying to the top of the cave. Deidara grinned sadistically, and he threw thousands of clay spiders at the roof. The spiders detonated when they hit the top, bringing thousands of tons of rock down on top of the five.

The five shinobi looked at the roof, and bunched together to all defend at the same time. Yamato formed a hand sign and a massive dome of wood surrounded the group, protecting them from the falling rock. Deidara looked down at the ground, seeing the tree bark colored dome and frowned.

Deidara prepared for his ultimate attack, one that even that wood wall wouldn't hold against. He saw the wall drop and the five look up at him, hate in their eyes. Deidara flew lower, so they could hear his words.

"Very well done my friends, that was quite the barrage of rock that fell on you, and yet you survived without a scratch" Deidara smiled, laughing hysterically. The mouths in his hands spat out wads of clay, and Deidara closed his hands. His eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened his hands, a fairly large, human-like clay sculpture was there.

"But, I'm afraid this is the end my friends, here! Catch!" Deidara tossed the clay man over the side, and it fell, spreading its arms out and growing dramatically very very fast. Everyone's eyes narrowed and then widened at the falling clay thing. "Behold my masterpiece, C3, it's the most powerful weapon in my arsenal!"

Deidara stood up, raising his arms in a spectacle. "Now, gape in fear! Cower in awe, because my art…" he yelled, his hands coming down into a single hand sign as the massive clay man nearly hit the shinobi. Right before the sculpture hit, everything was suddenly very quiet, and then…

"IS AN EXPLOSION!"

The man exploded, and the world shook. The blast was incredible, shaking the ground and Deidara felt the shockwave from the explosion even though he was so high up. The entire cavern was engulfed in flame, and even then the blast scorched the surrounding area.

Deidara laughed, his red and black cloak flapping in the wind. That bomb was full of C3, some of the most dense and concentrated clay he possesed. There was very, very little that could avoid a blast from a bomb that powerful and that concentrated.

Deidara took one, final look at the destruction that he had created, and smiled. They were undoubtedly dead. Though he was not one to underestimate his opponents, Deidara knew when a fight was over, and now, his job was finished. Granted, he had told the whereabouts of the girl's location for nothing, but no matter.

The bomber turned the clay bird he was riding on and flew away, heading toward the north, where he was supposed to rendezvous with Sasori. Deidara winced at the consequences; he had kept his partner waiting too long. But if he was on his guard he may make it with all four of his limbs intact.

As Deidara flew away, he didn't notice movement in the rocks below. From out of the boulders, Rock Lee smashed his way into the open, inhaling the fresh air. He spotted the white bird and its rider flying away and turned around. Picking up one of the larger rocks, he threw it aside to reveal the rest of his team.

"It is safe now, our opponent has retreated" Lee said, and everyone jumped out of the hole. The second before the bomb detonated, Lee's eyes had snapped open and he had dug a massive hole in the ground. With lightning speed he had pulled a boulder over the hole, protecting them from the blast.

"Thank you Lee, you just saved all of our lives" Yamato thanked, and bowed quickly.

"So, what now?" Kiba asked, stroking Akamaru's head.

"What do you mean what now? We go after Hinata!" Naruto said, whirling on Kiba giving him an 'Are you kidding me' look.

"What if he was lying about where she was?" Yamato asked

"I sensed no flux in his chakra. He was telling the full truth," Neji said

"I have to send a missive to the hokage informing us of the mission" Yamato said, and formed a hand sign "Wood Clone jutsu!"

Suddenly, wood twisted out of the left side of Yamato, melding together. Seconds later, the wood formed a second Yamato, wearing a radio headset. Knowing his mission, the wood clone leaped away, back toward the land of fire.

"He'll make it back to the village in a few hours, but for now, we'll continue our mission and find Hinata" Yamato said. The six leaped away, headed for the north, to find their friend.

**Meanwhile…**

Hinata was standing in the middle of the clearing, eyes closed. The wind whistled over the grass and swept her hair around, fanning around her head. Her concentration was totally focused on her chakra and stockpiling it inside her lungs, preparing for the imminent attack.

Behind her, Itachi Uchiha stood as still as a statue, his eyes taking in every aspect of her. "Now" Itachi said, and Hinata formed some hand signs, opening her eyes. Opposite her standing fifty feet away was Kisame, and he formed hand signs too.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"

Hinata inhaled and then breathed out, a massive fireball exploding from her maw and shooting at Kisame. But in front of the sword master, a massive stream of water in the form of a shark sped at the fireball, its mouth open, displaying savage blue teeth. The two forces collided and unleashed a massive cloud of steam, canceling each other out.

Normally, a water jutsu would be far stronger then a fire jutsu. But Hinata's fireball was exceptionally strong for her, even stronger then Itachi's. It was so strong Kisame had to make his water jutsu three times more powerful then usual to cancel each other out.

"Well done Hinata. It's quite an impressive feat to learn such a jutsu in a week, and you aren't even of my clan, which magnifies that achievement since you do not have an affinity for fire like we do" Itachi said, patting her on the shoulder.

Hinata's face was split by her grin, and she turned around and hugged Itachi, like he was her father. Itachi shifted a little, making it clear he was uncomfortable, on which Hinata released him. "Thank you so much Itachi, I can't thank you enough"

"Hinata if you were anyone else, you would be dead for hugging him like that" Kisame laughed, displaying his teeth and walking over with Shark Skin in his hand.

"Oh, um, sorry Itachi" Hinata said, retreating and touching her fingers together. The eyes of the Uchiha pierced her, the orbs that held the Sharingan almost seeing right through her.

"Alright Hinata, night is falling, I think we had best get some rest" Itachi said, turning around and walking towards the wooden structure. Kisame and Hinata followed him.

Hinata reflected on the last several days, thinking about the two men who had been training her. Despite them being S-rank criminals, she had learned they were simply people whose talents had been unrecognized by this villages, and they had wanted to be seen, just like her.

In all her life, she had never had training like this. Or, for that matter, even being recognized like this. Itachi and Kisame had taught her at least five new jutsu in the past couple of days, the fireball had been very hard at first, but eventually she had gotten the hang of it to the point where even Kisame couldn't defend himself with a water jutsu unless it was several times more powerful then usual.

She had come to realize these two were just like her, misunderstood, unappreciated and shunned by their fellow ninja. They were different in one way though, Hinata had friends, and she had comrades who would back her up no matter what. And when she finally returned to the leaf village, she would show all of them how wrong they were about her.

The four retired to their respective rooms, and Hinata climbed into her sleeping bag. But as she closed her eyes, she was awoken by a hand on her shoulder. She turned over and saw Itachi sitting beside her, his eyes looking at her and strangely, did not have the telltale red of the Sharingan in them.

Usually the Uchiha had always had his Sharingan activated, as a force of habit. It was strange seeing him without that Kekkai Genkai activated. "Itachi, what is it?" Hinata asked, sitting up.

He stood up, motioning for her to follow. He led the two of them outside, to the tree next to the house. They both sat against the trunk, next to each other, Itachi let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you chose to stay with Kisame and me Hinata" Itachi said, unbuttoning his Akatsuki close and letting Hinata get a good look at his face for the first time. He was not unhandsome, but Hinata didn't think he was her type anyway.

"Thank you Itachi, it's a real honor to train under you and Kisame" Hinata said, bowing her head in respect.

"Hinata, do you know who I actually am?" Itachi asked, his expression blank.

"Well, all you really told me is that you used to be a leaf shinobi" Hinata said, now turning in interest.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, I am the one who singlehandedly wiped out the entire Uchiha clan" Itachi said, his expression completely blank once again, showing no emotion.

Hinata gasped and her eyes widened in terror. This was the man who had destroyed the Uchiha? The man who she trusted and who was helping her to become stronger?

"Hinata. I'm telling you this not to scare you, I want to tell you why I did it" Itachi said, turning to her, his eyes actually filled with hurt.

"Why? W-why would you kill your entire clan? Your family, your friends, you killed them all! Why?" Hinata asked, moving a little farther away from Itachi.

"Because they were scared of me. They feared the power I wielded and the treated me like dirt. They made me feel like an outcast, made me feel all alone. And that Hinata, is something you can relate to" Itachi lied slyly, staring into her white eyes with his onyx ones.

He was right. Nobody ever had cared for Hinata, they always thought she was weak, or needed help. "You're right. Nobody ever cares about me; even my own father thinks I am worthless. The person I care for won't notice me, and my friends always think I'm weaker then they are" Hinata said, the sadness fading and being replaced with pure hatred.

"Exactly Hinata. That is why I brought you here, to realize your full potential. And then, you will be able to take revenge on everyone who ever made you feel weak." Itachi said, fueling the flames of rage inside the girl.

"I will. I'll show them all, just how strong I am." Hinata said, standing up. She threw back her head and roared in anger. "I'LL MAKE THEM PAY!" She whirled around and kneeled to Itachi. "Will you help me, please?"

"Of course I will Hinata, but when we do finish and you become as strong as you want, who will you take your revenge on first? Your family?" Itachi asked, helping her stand up and standing behind her. Inside, Itachi laughed at how easy it was to turn her to his side. Hinata's anger was a flickering flame and Itachi had just fanned it into an inferno.

"No. There's one I want to pay more then anyone. He never cared, never noticed me. I loved him, and he turned away from me." Hinata said, her usually gentle hands clenched into fists that were shaking with rage.

"Who?" Itachi said, already knowing the answer. He leaned in to her ear, whispering softly. "Tell me" When the answer came, it was quiet, yet laced with venom and hatred.

"Naruto Uzumaki"

A/N: And that's chapter seven, damn it was long. Now that Hinata's turned to Itachi's side, what will happen next? Read on to find out. **Please note, there is another time skip in the next chapter, this one is a month and a half. **Naruto and his team are searching for Hinata, and Hinata is searching for Naruto, the suspense is murder! By the way, a very important someone shows up in the next chapter, who is he? Read on to find out! Enjoy the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Eight

New Hate and New Love

Time: 6:53 PM

Location: The Northlands

Neji Hyuga stood on the mountain top, scanning the entire area. His Byakugan searching for any trace of a chakra trail. This had been going on for well over a month now, and although he didn't like to admit it, they were fighting a lost cause. Hinata's trail had nearly gone cold, only small traces of her chakra were scattered here and there.

Naruto tapped Neji on the shoulder, signaling he was ready. "Are you all set Neji, this is going to be taxing on your chakra supplies, you know that"

"I'm full aware of the repercussions of this Naruto, you don't have to worry" Neji said, brushing the hand from his shoulder.

A week ago Neji had decided to try out a new way of finding their lost comrade. If Neji's Byakugan could be amplified, it would work, and the only way to do that was with an immense amount of chakra, chakra that Naruto possesed. By funneling his chakra into Neji, the power of his Byakugan would be amplified at least several dozen times over by that chakra.

But Neji knew that the immense chakra that would flow through him would leave him weak after when the power retreated, and Naruto would be weak from losing all his chakra as well. And the result would be that Neji would be able to see across the entire continent, and find Hinata's chakra trail.

Neji flexed his shoulders, closed his eyes and prepared. The other four members of the team were standing behind him, in case something went wrong. Naruto placed his hands on Neji's shoulder and began funneling every last bit of his chakra into the Hyuga.

Neji opened his eyes, activating the Byakugan. He noticed the difference instantaneously. His range was unbelievable, from here he could see all the way back to the leaf village! Not only that, the vision's analytical powers increased too, he was able to track his cousin's chakra trail easily. He followed it further north, into a small mountain range.

Neji's eyes tracked it, through a pass, over hills, and finally it came to a stop. Five kilometers away, he had found Hinata. She was moving fast, toward them oddly enough, behind two… oh no. What Neji saw horrified him, Hinata was leaping behind two men, whose chakra levels alone scared him. They could only be members of the Akatsuki.

But that wasn't all, looking deeper at his cousin, he saw her chakra patterns had changed. When he had last inspected them before she left the village, Hinata always had calm, smooth chakra that moved slowly. But now, he chakra moved unbelievably fast, and it raged, as if trying to escape her body.

Naruto fell to his knees. He had given Neji all of his chakra, and now he couldn't keep up the stream. Neji fell back, landing on the hard stone. Everyone stood beside him in an instant, inspecting him and asking if he was okay.

Neji's eyes opened slowly, and he coughed. "I… found her" Neji said, groaning and in pain.

"You found Hinata? Where is she?" Kiba said, shaking Neji for a second before Shino moved his hand.

"She's different… her chakra… it's evil" Neji said, and coughed again, groaning. Neji lifted his arm and pointed toward the north "Th-that way, five c-clicks. Two others… Akatsuki"

Neji's eyes closed. He fell unconscious, going limp. Yamato checked his pulse and determined he was alright, but the shock of gaining and then losing so much chakra had overwhelmed his system.

"Naruto, you stay here with Neji, you're not strong enough to follow us. We'll find Hinata ourselves"

"What was that he said about evil chakra?" Kiba asked, Akamaru whined, clearly nervous.

Yamato thought for a moment then shook his head. "I don't know, and he also said something about the Akatsuki, so we can only assume there are two members of the Akatsuki with her, so we must take extra care."

"Then lets go help our friend!" Kiba said, and the four ran off into the woods, going north, toward Hinata.

Naruto panted, sitting beside the unconscious Neji. But before him, Neji's eyes opened and he looked at Naruto. "N-Naruto. Go after her"

"Neji, I want to, but I can't, even I know in my current state, I'm not strong enough to even fight." Naruto said, although half of him was furious for not agreeing with Neji.

"Its, not that." Neji said, trying to sit up but he groaned and fell back. "Hinata, she's different now… she's, evil"

"What do you mean? No way she would be evil, or turn to their side!" Naruto said, refusing to think about Neji's words.

"She, has. You are the only o-one who can s-save her. She, has f-feelings for you Naruto" Neji said, turning his head toward his teammate.

"She… loves you Naruto. You are the only one w-who can reach her. She f-fell in love with you, but now I f-fear that she may be beyond our reach" Neji coughed again, looking deep into Naruto's eyes. "I'm putting a-all my trust in you. Bring her b-back"

Naruto's mind was filled with thoughts and emotions. It all made sense, and yet it didn't at the same time. Hinata had loved him for years, and yet he never noticed. But there would be time for thinking later, now it was the time for action.

Naruto stood up, looking into the distance. "I'll bring her back Neji. That's a promise, and I never go back on my word" Naruto leaped into the trees, heading toward Hinata, and to fulfill his promise.

**Meanwhile…**

Unknown to the five leaf shinobi, there were three more figures approaching. Two walked together in sync, their red and black cloaks flapping in the wind and they made no noise as they approached their allies. The third approached from the opposite side, and nobody expected that one to appear.

Deidara and Sasori were silent. Deidara wanted to complain, in fact he loathed the thought of helping that little pampered girl Hinata, but it was orders from the leader. Complaining meant disobedience, and in the Akatsuki, disobedience meant death. And if he complained to Sasori, not only would he be wasting his breath, but also Sasori may just break one of his arms in annoyance.

The leader of the Akatsuki had ordered the duo to back up Itachi and Kisame in case something went wrong, which Deidara considered ridiculous. The two were more then capable of handling themselves, but, orders were orders, and Deidara wanted to live long enough to at least see all of his efforts in this plan to be worthwhile.

"Sasori. Give me a second to give them an update" Deidara said, and formed a hand sign and activating the Astral Projection Jutsu. Deidara appeared again in black as a hologram, looking at the rest of the Akatsuki.

"How does your mission go Deidara?" Zetsu asked in one of his voices.

"Well, I saw a team of leaf shinobi when I was flying, they could become a problem. There were six last I counted." Deidara said

Suddenly three other figures started moving, signaling they were active and could talk. Deidara recognized them as his partner Sasori, Itachi and Kisame. "Which ones did you see Deidara?" Zetsu asked again.

"Actually, the Hyuga girl has used her Byakugan and there are five currently approaching us" Kisame said, his voice ripe with anticipation for a fight.

"One is Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuriki we want. Another is a wood-style user, we don't know his identity. The other three are chunin, we know them as Kiba Inuzuka, Rock Lee and Shino Aburame" Itachi claimed.

"Wood style eh? Very interesting. That's the personal jutsu of the first hokage, how would this one know it?" Deidara asked.

"Irrelevant, since there are five there's one for each of you, divide them up amongst yourselves" Zetsu said, becoming inactive with a buzz of electricity.

"Rock Lee huh? That's the flunky of Might Guy, the one I fought a while back. I'll take him" Kisame said, a clacking noise from his back signaling that Shark Skin was excited.

"The chance to fight that Inuzuka again would be fun, he's all mine" Deidara said, chuckling a little.

"This wood style user seems interesting, I'll test my abilities on him" Itachi said.

"Then I'll handle the Aburame. I've heard a lot of interesting comments about their clan" Sasori grumbled, vanishing.

"Then we shall leave the Jinchuriki to our new associate, but Itachi, make sure she brings him back alive. If he's wounded I don't care, just not mortally" Leader said, vanishing as well.

Everyone deactivated the jutsu, returning to their bodies. Deidara and Sasori moved again, this time moving fast toward the group of leaf shinobi. Deidara crudely chuckled, his palms already chewing up detonating clay for the coming battle. It was sure to be interesting at least.

**Meanwhile…**

The Silent figure cloaked in black watched the forest for any signs of movement, his sharp eyes scanning the entire area. So, the Akatsuki were making their move, and the one he was searching for was there as well. The figure stood up and leaped off the mountain he was perched on, running for the group, his red eyes flashing, and only one thought ran through his head.

"_At last, I take my vengeance on him_"

**Meanwhile…**

Yamato, Kiba, Shino and Lee rocketed through the forest, toward where Hinata was approaching. Yamato was thinking a mile a minute in his mind, working out all of the angles and factors of meeting someone who had been in the 'tender' care of the Akatsuki for more then a month and a half.

Of all of them, Kiba was the most worried. He feared the worst when Neji said her chakra was evil, could she have turned to the side of those dreaded Akatsuki? Kiba had always considered Hinata the little sister he never had, and so besides Kurenai and maybe her father, Kiba was the one who cared about her the most. Akamaru ran below, sniffing around for any signs of an attack.

When it did come, it was silent and without warning. A massive blast of water and fire shot from the trees, nearly incinerating the four shinobi. They dropped to the ground, readying their battle positions. But from beside them, a massive storm of senbalm came from the bushes, backed up with little white birds that flew at them.

Yamato made a hand sign and a dome of wood surrounded the four. The dome rattled from the attacks, but didn't give. The dome dropped and four figures emerged from the foliage, all wearing the signature red and black cloaks of the Akatsuki, and walking slowly toward the group.

"You know I think I knew you hadn't survived my masterpiece. I'm glad I was right, you're much too fun to kill" Deidara laughed, the scope on his eye reading the chakra levels of the four.

"A wood style user? Very interesting…" Itachi said, smiling ever so slightly.

"Where, is, Hinata?" Kiba growled, preparing his chakra for a jutsu, Akamaru following suit.

"Right here, Kiba…" A voice said menacingly from the trees. Kiba's eyes widened in horror as she stepped out. She looked at him with orbs that were white, but held more hatred then he had thought possible in a human being.

"Hinata, there is one more coming. Take care of him." Itachi said, dismissing the girl. "But, take him ALIVE. No mortal wounds."

"Shame." Hinata leaped away, over the group and bounded into the forest with a flash of midnight black.

Even Shino was dumbstruck. That, was the little Hinata he had known for years? He moved to go after her, but decided against it, he had to help the others. "Let's start this already" Shino said, and raised his arms.

Everything happened at once. Insects, clay, senbalm, wood; every kind of weapon flew through the air towards one another. There were cries of "FANG OVER FANG" or "Art is an EXPLOSION" or "Leaf Hurricane!" and everyone was moving, attacking nearly everything in their field of vision.

As the eight ninja fought, Naruto wasn't far behind them. He saw the explosions and attacks coming from ahead and he sped up. If Hinata was here, she would be up ahead, hopefully with Captain Yamato and the others already. But something flew at him from directly ahead, and he dropped flat, landing on the ground of the large clearing with a thump.

The thing that nearly hit him was a shuriken, thrown with such force and accuracy that if it had hit him, it would have literally have gone right through him and imbedded itself in the tree behind him. A voice came from the bushes, laced with so much venom and loathing that Naruto was scared.

"You…" said the voice. Naruto vaguely recognized the voice, but the tone was unfamiliar to him. Another three shuriken were thrown at him, which he countered with his own quickly thrown shuriken.

"Who, are you?" Naruto gulped, pulling out a kunai.

"The one who is going to end you, Naruto…" The figure leaped from the bushes, hair flying wildly. He defended himself, but was thrown onto his back, thirty meters through the air.

"I'm going to enjoy toying with you, my sweet Naruto" The figure said, walking towards him. Naruto looked at them, and wished he hadn't.

Hinata Hyuga stood there, looking at him with hatred in her eyes. Her midnight blue hair was flowing down her back, like normal, but the resemblance ended there. Hinata wore full black leather armor, allowing for extreme flexibility while providing strong defense. The armor was complete with metal plates forged into the leather, even more defense against kunai and shuriken.

A large sword was strapped to her back; also jet black in color, and two tonfa were strapped to her belt. She wore long boots with heels, and gloves that carried spikes on the knuckles to deliver extreme pain when she punched something. Her Byakugan was activated, the veins in her eyes standing up, and she had a red cloud emblazoned on her chest.

"As much as I would love to kill you, my mission is to bring you back to the Akatsuki where the Nine-Tails will be extracted from you. But luckily, Itachi has calculated, and with your stamina, you won't die." Hinata said, baffling Naruto with how she knew about him being a Jinchuriki. "I'll make sure you survive, and I'll toy with you, make you pay for everything you did to me"

"Hinata! Listen to yourself, the Akatsuki are using you to get to me!" Naruto cried, climbing to his feet and facing his friend.

"This isn't about you, Naruto, this is about ME. My pain, my hurt. And you, you magnified my pain, you made me feel even more alone then I was." Hinata said, her blue hair blowing in the wind, and she laughed evilly. "But I suppose I should at least thank you, its that very pain that made me strong, and now, I'll destroy you with it!"

Hinata attacked, throwing kunai knives. As Naruto dodged the knives, Hinata made hand signs, and drew in a large breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Hinata roared, and breathed out the fireball, speeding at Naruto. He threw himself out of the way, and then made a hand sign of his own.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Seven Naruto's appeared with a poof of white smoke. He leaped at Hinata, who smiled sadistically and seemingly, disappeared into thin air. Naruto looked around, confused.

She dropped in from above, drawing the sword on her back. She landed, slicing the shadow clones and making them poof away. Thought she couldn't tell the real Naruto from the rest, that didn't stop her from destroying any clone that was unfortunate enough to get in the way of her sword.

When all the clones were destroyed, she searched for Naruto. The attack came from above, like hers. She heard a noise and looked up to see two Naruto's, and then one disappeared, leaving a spinning sphere of chakra in its place. Hinata looked, wide-eyed, if the Rasengan hit her, it was all over.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto roared, and thrust his hand towards Hinata. She moved fast, and slid back, coming up behind him. She slashed at him with her sword, and cut neatly across his back. He screamed, and landed on the ground, writhing in pain. She stepped over him and inspected the wound she made, he would be in pain, but he wouldn't die.

"I've been training under the best Naruto, you have no hope of defeating me" Hinata said, laughing sadistically.

"You… missed" Naruto said, smiling painfully. Then, in front of her, 'Naruto' poofed into a cloud smoke, a shadow clone. Hinata's eyes widened and she readied her sword, when she heard a shudder.

"RASENGAN!" Came the roar. Naruto burst out of the ground, the swirling sphere of chakra in his hand making direct contact with Hinata's blade. She dropped the sword and back flipped backward. The sword flew into the air, still intact. She smiled, but when the sword came back down, it was nothing but iron dust, floating like sparkles in the air.

"Oh Naruto, this is why I loved you, you're always so perseverant, so strong. If you hadn't betrayed me, I would have wanted to be with you." She said, laughing again. Hinata drew the two wooden tonfa from her belt, spinning them and readying them for combat.

Naruto's heart felt heavy, like a friend had just died, and it was his fault. Something broke inside him and a tear fell down his cheek. It was his fault she was like this, he was so stupid and so ignorant that he couldn't see how much she loved him, and now she had joined the Akatsuki, and was trying to kill him.

In his mind's eye, Naruto was transported to a boiler room, the air felt like it was solid, and it was like breathing in water vapor. He was ankle-deep in water, and leaking pipes ran along the roof and walls. Naruto walked forward, into the room he knew he had to enter. A massive cage door occupied one of the walls of the room with a piece of paper on it that only read "_Seal_".

"Hey you stinking fox, are you there?" Naruto yelled, tears slipping down his face.

"**Naruto…** **I know why you're here**" The massive fox said, its red eyes peering down at its Jinchuriki.

"Please. It's my fault she's this way, I never noticed, I did betray her" Naruto said, falling to a kneel and sobbing uncontrollably.

"**But do you actually love her, the way she loves you?**" The Nine-Tails asked, moving closer to the bars in interest.

"Y… yes… I do. I never noticed before, I was too busy fawning over Sakura, when I think I always knew that she would never return my feelings. I'm an idiot of the highest caliber." Naruto cried, pleading for help from anyone. "Please, just help me, take over my body, I don't care. I don't want to be in this life any more"

"**Easy young one… I will take away all the pain, all the hurt…**" the Nine-Tails said, and the room was enveloped in light.

**One Minute Ago…**

Hinata prepared for the attack, running at Naruto with her tonfas. She noticed something, off, and stopped for a second. Naruto wasn't moving, and his eyes were looking down, but they were empty, not really looking at anything. It was as if Naruto had died on his feet.

Hinata knew that Naruto was not unconscious, he seemed to have fallen into a dreamstate, and his mind was not linked to his body. She could kill him now with no resistance, but something kept her from doing it, and she walked closer to him.

Hinata scanned him with her Byakugan, and she looked in his mind, where all of the commotion was coming from. The chakra around that area was dense, concentrated, which meant Naruto was using all of his chakra to do something in his mind. Hinata could see it wasn't an attack, so she explored, letting her Byakugan peer into his mind.

She was instantly transported to a large room, the inside of Naruto's mind. The room was flooded, the water up to her ankles, and massive water pipes that leaked ran along the ceiling. Hinata walked slowly, and saw that the back wall was a massive cage, with a small scrap of paper on the lock that read "_Seal_".

In front of her, Naruto was on the floor kneeling. He was sobbing, talking too, but what Hinata saw in front of him was what terrified her. A massive canine face was behind the bars, with red eyes and jutting teeth larger then her. It was listening and talking with Naruto.

"**But do you actually love her, the way she loves you?**" The fox asked, shifting around behind the cage doors.

"Y… yes… I do. I never noticed before, I was too busy fawning over Sakura, when I think I always knew that she would never return my feelings. I'm an idiot of the highest level." Naruto cried, completely breaking down in front of her and the fox. "Please, just help me, take over my body, I don't care. I don't want to be in this life any more"

"**Easy young one… I will take away all the pain, all the hurt…**" the Nine-Tails purred, and it moved closer to the bars. Hinata's eyes went wide in hurt and horror. He… loved her too? He hadn't betrayed her, but she had put it into his head that he had, and he couldn't get over that.

Before she could think any more, a blinding white light enveloped the room, and Hinata's form faded. In an instant, she was back in the real world, in her body, standing close to the still-dreaming Naruto. She felt awful, like her heart had been ripped out and stomped on right in front of her. She had joined the Akatsuki to take revenge on those who "betrayed" her, and she never realized, she had betrayed them.

Suddenly, Naruto flexed his muscles and stood up straight. His eyes had changed, they were crimson red now, and his teeth got longer, more canine. And then, he knelt down, close to the ground, and a red aura came from his body, spreading across his form like a disease.

Hinata saw inside him, and noticed she saw no trace of the natural blue chakra. Now it was blood red, and the chakra overloaded his system, Naruto possesed hundreds of times more then he should. The red chakra cloaked his body in its aura, and a small stub grew out of the rear of his back.

Before Hinata's eyes, that little stub had grown into a full-grown tail, made of the crimson chakra. And two more joined it, waving and swaying from side to side. The air around Hinata suddenly started to sting, like someone was dripping droplets of boiling water on her.

But the horror didn't stop there. Naruto's eyes went fully blood red, and he roared in pain, his hands digging into the ground. Hinata took a step back, she knew very well what that was; the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and it was taking him over. So this is what the fox had meant when it said it would take away all the pain.

Before her, Naruto's skin peeled away from his face and body, his clothes were incinerated, and beneath his skin wasn't muscle, but chakra. It flowed underneath his skin malevolently, and the very heat penetrated Hinata, making her feel vulnerable. It wasn't ten seconds more before his entire body had lost all of his skin.

Naruto lifted his head up, to reveal his face was black mask of chakra, with his eyes and mouth being pure white, they radiated savagery. Hinata gasped and saw the tails swaying, but noticed there were FOUR now. The unbelievable power that emanated from Naruto was enough to shock anyone.

Naruto stood on his hind legs and slammed his hands into the earth. Hinata leaped just in time, a red hand made of pure chakra burst from the earth, reaching toward her. Knowing very few of her jutsu were strong enough to battle such a force, she dodged, and suddenly a second hand came out of the forearm and whacked her, sending the girl flying.

Naruto roared, and the shockwave was so powerful the trees bent backwards. The sound echoed over the forest, reaching the ears of his teammates. Yamato looked to the source, and saw the red chakra arms waving through the air. His eyes widened in horror, and he leaped to the source.

Kisame blocked his retreat with Shark Skin, then tossed it in the air, forming rapid hand signs. "Water Prison Jut… ARGHH!" Kisame roared in pain, looking for the source. He didn't have to look far. A shuriken had embedded itself in his hand, and the one who threw it landed in the clearing with a thump.

Everyone stopped fighting for a moment to look at the newcomer. He wore a full black trench coat, hiding his body from view. The hood was pulled over his face, but he walked slowly over the to four leaf shinobi fighting back to back. He turned, facing toward Itachi and pulling back the hood.

"I finally found you, Itachi…" he said, in a monotone voice.

The four leaf ninja's eyes went wide, as they saw the newcomer. Kisame laughed, Shark Skin's scales clacking in excitement in his hand. Itachi was expressionless, but his Sharingan eyes narrowed at the identity of the one he knew so very well. Yamato was dumbstruck, almost as much as Lee, whose brain was trying to desperately figure out why HE had come here.

There, in the middle of the halted battle, black hair flying, red eyes gleaming, was Sasuke Uchiha.

A/N: Ahahaha! Sasuke wasn't part of my original plan, but putting him in was fun for me, and it will help my story in a way that you'll see soon. Don't worry, I'll get to the lemon eventually, but first, I need to write the next chapter. Enjoy yourselves!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter Nine

Fight for Me

Time: 7:04 PM

Location: The Northlands

Hinata rolled, evading another chakra hand attack from the ground. She made hand signs as she saw another coming towards her. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" she yelled, and a massive storm of water circled around her. The arm hit the water, creating a wall of steam with a massive hiss.

The arm dissipated, but barely. Nearly all of the water she had summoned was consumed, and since the giant vortex jutsu had enough water to fill a small lake, it gave her a small clue to the Nine-Tails power. Hinata leaped, evading another arm that burst from the ground.

She growled in anger, she couldn't fight like this, not when these arms were trying to kill her and she was trying to get close to Naruto and make him come to his senses. She couldn't even touch the arms, they were so hot, if she did, she would severely burn herself, or even melt her very skin.

She ran toward Naruto, flipping and dodging the arms that came from the earth to attack her. "NARUTO! WAKE UP!" she screamed, throwing three kunai beside Naruto. He didn't even move, increasing the temperature of his chakra tenfold, and as they flew, the knives _melted_, becoming puddles of molten iron before they even reached the boy.

**Meanwhile…**

"What are you doing here little brother?" Itachi asked, unmoving.

"What do you think? I'm here to kill you Itachi" Sasuke said, Sharingan eyes flashing.

"Though I've been itching for a battle with you Sasuke, now is not the time nor the place, and you don't concern me right now" Itachi said, dismissing him casually. Even though Sasuke was much more mature then when Itachi had done the same thing to him while he was hunting Naruto, it still infuriated him.

"No Itachi, I've spent the last three years trying to find you, and now that I have, I'm not going to be robbed of my destiny" Sasuke said. He made hand signs and put his fingers to his lips. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!". Sasuke breathed out, small fireballs shot at his older brother.

The battle instantly started up again, everybody attacking each other. Lee was actually happy that Sasuke was on their side, and it felt good fighting together again. Yamato leaped away, leaving Sasuke his big brother while he went to help Naruto. With a roar that powerful, he had almost certainly let the Nine-Tails out, what he was uncertain of was the amount of tails.

Yamato wasn't positive about the total powers of the Nine-Tails, but with a roar like that Naruto was almost certainly had at least two tails. Clearly whatever he was doing had enraged him. Yamato burst into the clearing, to see a girl in the air, dodging massive arms of crimson chakra that burst from the ground.

Yamato didn't have to look far to find Naruto. He was on all fours, and covered in the crimson chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox. His hands had claws, and his face was covered in a mask of black chakra. His eyes were pure white circles, and his mouth was as well, an outline of jaws and cruel teeth.

But that wasn't the worst. Looking to the back of Naruto, he saw no less then _four_ tails sprouting from his rear. Yamato frowned, and he saw the girl who had been dodging the tails land and throw kunai at Naruto, while yelling at him to wake up. As Yamato watched the kunai melted from the heat of Naruto's chakra surrounding him. Undoubtedly this was Hinata Hyuga, the one they had come to find.

"Hinata!" Yamato called, and she looked at him, seeing the leaf headband. She landed, running towards him, when the arms stopped chasing her, hovering just above the ground, waiting to attack.

"Who are you?" Hinata asked, her midnight blue hair flying around her head

"My name is Yamato, I'm captain of the team that was sent here to find you" Yamato said, looking back at Naruto.

"We need to help him!" Hinata cried, a tear slipping from her eye and rolling down her cheek.

"I would. I have a jutsu that could supress the power of the Nine-Tails, but there's one problem" Yamato says, looking at the ground in front of Naruto.

"What?" Hinata asked, searching for the thing he meant.

"That." Yamato said, pointing to the ground in front of Naruto. Hinata looked to see a small necklace with a green gem in it, lying in front of the transformed Naruto.

"That's the necklace of the first hokage, imbdewed with the power to suppress the powers of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Without Naruto wearing it, there's no way my jutsu would be strong enough to stop him" Yamato said, looking at Hinata.

Hinata thought for a moment, then looked up, her face stained with tears. "I'll do it. I'll get it on him, just help him, please." Hinata said, turning back to Naruto.

"Just get it around his neck, then touch it to activate the crystal. I'll do the rest." Yamato said, not bothering to stop her, he knew she wouldn't listen anyway.

Hinata stepped forward, preparing to be attacked by the chakra arms again, but they didn't move. Instead, Naruto roared, and little spheres shot from his body, blue and the crimson red of the Nine-Tails, made of chakra. The arms split as well, becoming the same kind of spheres as well.

"_This cannot be good_" Hinata thought, frozen in place with interest.

Naruto's four tails curled up in front of his face, and all the spheres moved toward the tails. When they got there, they fused together, becoming a massive black sphere of chakra. It shrunk down, to about the size of a babies fist. The chakra was so heavy the ground around Naruto suddenly sunk, making a crashing sound, and Hinata nearly lost her balance.

Yamato knew what he was going to do, and yelled out. "Hinata! Get out of the way NOW! He's going to fire that chakra at you, RUN!" he yelled. Hinata heard, and something in her mind clicked into place. She ran, but TOWARDS Naruto, as the transformed boy opened his mouth and leaned toward the ball of chakra.

Hinata ran as fast as she could, aiming for the small necklace lying on the ground directly in front of Naruto. As she ran, the boy devoured the miniature ball of chakra, swallowing it with a gulp. Yamato yelled at her again, but Hinata didn't hear him, pushing all of her chakra to her legs and running as fast as she could.

Naruto sunk down to the ground, weighed down by the density of the chakra he had swallowed. Hinata leaped, grabbing the necklace, just as the ball detonated inside Naruto, making him look like someone had drastically inflated him with air. Steam poured from his mouth, and his head rose.

Hinata had the necklace in her hand and leaped at Naruto, slipping it around the boys inflated neck. Hinata touched the crystal and it flared an emerald green, making Hinata look away from the intense light. Yamato saw and kneeled,"_Now!_" he thought, and made hand signs as fast as his body would let him. "Hokage Style Elder Jutsu: Tenth Edict on Enlightenment!" Yamato yelled, and held out his hand, the symbol "sit" appearing on his hand.

Around Naruto and Hinata, pillars of wood with spikes on them erupted from the ground in a circular pattern. A thread of blue chakra shot out of Yamato's hand and connected to Naruto, who saw it and opened his mouth, preparing to launch the massive blast of chakra that was inside him.

Yamato frowned and shook madly. "_I can't sense Naruto's presence in his body, he's completely controlled by the Nine-Tails. I can't… supress him… in time!_" He thought, beads of sweat running down his face. If he had more time, he could supress the power, but Naruto was going to launch the chakra in seconds, and he couldn't stop it in time.

Hinata saw Yamato struggling, and turned to Naruto, getting down in front of his face, his massive mouth open and steaming. "NARUTO! STOP, DON'T LET THIS MONSTER TAKE OVER YOU, COME BACK TO ME!" she screamed, tears pouring from her eyes, looking into his white orbs, searching for a trace of the boy she knew.

Deep in those eyes, Naruto was there. In his mind's eye, he was still in the Fox's chamber, on the floor crying. It was all his fault Hinata was like this, all his fault she didn't come back. Tears fell down his face, and his hands were balled into fists, his eyes were red, with slits for pupils, and his nails had grown longer, a sign of the fox's influence.

But suddenly, Naruto heard a voice. He looked up, searching the empty room for the source. He heard it again, crying and pleading, he recognized the voice instantly. "Hinata? Hinata are you there?" He cried, jumping to his feet and looking for her. The pleading continued, begging him to come back to her, but he couldn't do anything.

Naruto looked through his eyes and saw Hinata in front of him, crying and begging. The fox was in control of his body now, and if he didn't stop it, they would all die. Naruto ran out of the chamber, searching for the voice, he needed to get back into his mind and force the Nine-Tails out. He called and yelled, asking her to tell him where she was.

Behind him, Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, and spun around. Before him stood Hinata, but filled with light, she emanated a radiance that stung the eyes, and she wore a smile on her face. It was as if this Hinata was an angel, sent from the heavens to help him.

"Hinata! How did you get in here?" Naruto asked, his face breaking into a smile

"This is my spirit form. While my body and mind are outside, my spirit has peered into the soul with the Byakugan, so I can help you, Naruto" Hinata said softly, that smile bringing warmth to Naruto's heart.

"How can I get back into my mind?" Naruto asked, hearing the voice, pleading again and he winced from the torture.

"You must find the strength inside of you Naruto, you have to find the inner strength to force the monster from your mind and reclaim it for your own." Hinata said, and then she leaned in and softly kissed him on the lips. It lasted only a second, but it was enough. Naruto blushed furiously, and when she pulled away, he could swear he saw a hint of the old, timid Hinata in her eyes.

"Think of me Naruto, let my strength flow through you. You can do it Naruto, I know you can" Hinata said, and then she vanished, leaving Naruto stunned.

"Okay, think of her, think of her." Naruto said aloud, and closed his eyes. He sent his spirit into his mind, tapping into his feelings for Hinata, thinking of her and her struggles to help him now.

The Nine-Tails didn't let go easily, it pushed him out with its incredibly powerful chakra, sending him flying. But Naruto pushed, the Nine-Tails doing everything it could to keep a hold on its mind. Naruto thought of Hinata, that he was doing this to save her, when this was all over, he would be with her.

Naruto forced the fox back, and with the last ounce of his power, threw the Nine-Tails from his mind. The world went bright, the last thing Naruto thought of was Hinata, and just to see that smile of hers one more time.

**Meanwhile…**

Red energy started emitting from Naruto's mouth as he prepared to fire, when the monster in control of his body was forced out, and Naruto slipped back in. Hinata felt it, and smiled, more tears coming from her eyes.

But even though Naruto was back in control, the blast of chakra he was about to exhale was too far along, its own momentum would make it shoot out of his mouth and kill everyone in range. "_Hinata, I can't… hold it…_" Naruto thought, trying to speak but he was unable to due to having so much chakra in his throat.

Hinata saw it, and reached out. Grabbing Naruto's neck, she pulled the transformed boy into a hug, pulling his face to face the sky. The pain was blinding, Hinata winced, and then groaned from the pain, hugging Naruto and pointing him up. As Hinata's groans turned into screams of agony, Naruto released the blast.

The ball of pure chakra came out of his mouth, shooting and blasting them both with heat and energy. Hinata had let go of Naruto's head from the pain and his mouth had angled down, so now the ball was aimed at a nearby, fairly large mountain. Both Hinata and Yamato turned and looked, watching as the ball hit the mountaintop.

The noise of the blast was so loud Hinata and Yamato could hear it from where they were. The entire top half of the mountain was blown away, the blast from the chakra enveloping the mountain in flame. Rocks showered everywhere, as if a volcano were erupting, and the rocks caught fire as they fell, becoming deadly meteors of magma.

Where the leaf and the Akatsuki were fighting, they saw the mountain. Though all knew that was not a volcano, they knew that something incredibly powerful was needed to destroy half a mountain. Only Sasuke kept fighting, mercilessly attacking his older brother and ignoring the meteors.

They rained down on the eight ninja, forcing all to go on the defensive. One headed toward Kisame, who formed hand signs faster then the eye could follow. "Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!" Kisame roared quickly, and a torrent of water came from his feet and took the shape of a shark, smashing into the boulder.

The two forces collided, the water extinguishing the flames, and the boulder's matter structure could not deal with the change from hot to cold so quickly and it shattered. "Fang over Fang!" Kiba yelled, and he and Akamaru spun, destroying two flaming rocks aimed at Shino and Lee.

Kisame smashed another boulder with Shark Skin and then ran at Shino, murder in his eyes. He brought the mighty sword down and suddenly, Shino dissolved into insects. The real one was behind him, and sent his Kikachu at the ex-mist shinobi. Kisame countered with a fast water jutsu and suddenly he spun around, his instincts warning him of danger.

"He is not your only opponent, I am here as well!" Lee yelled, and nailed Kisame with a hard kick to the gut. The water ninja flew toward Sasori, who blocked with his tail and then shot hundreds of senbalm from his maw at Lee and Shino, forcing them back onto the defensive.

Itachi couldn't keep up, between dodging the flaming rock and fighting Sasuke, not a minute since the mountain blew up, both Kisame AND Deidara had to save him, with Shark Skin and exploding clay respectively. Itachi delivered a savage kick to his brother, who blocked with his snake sword.

Sasuke flashed, electricity emitting from his body. Itachi was hit by one of the bolts and growled, leaping back and forming hand signs in the air, shooting a fireball from his mouth. Sasuke charged at him with his snake sword, slashing then smashing his knee into his brother's stomach.

"Itachi" poofed into smoke, and then suddenly appeared in front of him. Itachi stared deep into his little brothers eyes, forcing the Tsukuyomi upon him. Sasuke found himself trapped, locked down to a wall, with Itachi standing in front of him holding a simple katana sword.

As Itachi thrust the sword, the world shimmered out of existence, and Sasuke came back to the real world in time to see Rock Lee kicking his brother in the stomach yelling "Dynamic Entry!" Sasuke roared and leaped, throwing kunai and shuriken at Lee, who barely managed to dodge in time.

"Back off you no-talent freak, he's MINE" Sasuke growled to Lee, who looked surprised by his ex-teammates words. Kisame ended the silence, swinging at Lee with Shark Skin, who blocked with a kick.

Deidara finally grew annoyed, and threw something from his palm. It poofed into a massive bird, and he leaped on, whistling loudly to his other members. Kisame and Sasori leaped on, and Itachi followed suit, the four Akatsuki taking off into the sky.

"Where is Hinata?" Itachi asked, scanning the landscape with his Sharingan.

"There she is" Kisame pointed with Shark Skin, and they all looked down. Their eyes widened at the sight, then they frowned, turning away and flying south, toward their base and to report their "project" to use Hinata Hyuga to capture the Nine-Tailed Fox a failure. Deidara was the only one who smirked; it was time to go back to the good old days.

**Two minutes ago…**

Yamato dropped his hand, sweating and panting. He had never used that much chakra on a jutsu before. He looked up and saw Naruto, still covered in chakra and directly in front of Hinata. But as he watched, the malevolent chakra receded, returning to the seal on his stomach. Naruto roared in pain as that massive power pulled back.

From where it left, the chakra had seared off all of the skin, leaving Naruto's body little more then exposed muscle tissue. Hinata's eyes widened in horror at the sight, though the fox may have been contained, it came at a terrible price. The claws on Naruto's hands shrank back into normal-sized nails, and his eyes and mouth lost their white color, becoming normal.

Finally everything was reversed, Naruto lay on the ground, face up. Hinata's hands touched his face, all the skin had been burned off, and Naruto groaned at the pain. Hinata wasted no time, her hand slipping into her back pouch and pulling out a small jar. It was the Hyuga healing ointment she usually carried around with her, but when training with Itachi and Kisame, she had found herbs that had made the ointment twenty times as effective.

She dabbed two fingers in the ointment and smeared it all over Naruto's face. She shook her hands off and made a hand sign. Suddenly, the ointment sunk into Naruto's skin, and he let out a deep sigh of relief. Opening his jumpsuit, Hinata looked at all of his chest, and saw it was slowly, but surely, regrowing the skin.

It took a moment for Hinata to realize that she had just pulled off the shirt of the boy she was in love with, and she blushed madly, the old Hinata coming back out of her. Yamato slumped down next to her, panting and sweating. The two watched as Naruto's skin regrew, and his eyes finally stirred, coming open as the healing ointment finished its work.

"Hi…Hinata?" Naruto asked, his mouth cracking into a small smile.

Tears fell down Hinata's face, and she hugged him, sobbing into his jumpsuit. "I'm so sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry" she cried, and felt a hand in her hair.

"It's not your fault Hinata, it's mine, I should have noticed you, I should have talked to you, but I didn't. I'm the one who should be sorry" Naruto said, stroking her head.

"It looks like your friends are taking off" Naruto said, pointing to the sky.

Hinata turned and saw the four Akatsuki members on one of Deidara's birds, looking at her. She moved closer to Naruto, a sneer on her face. The bird turned and flew south, the four not even looking twice at her. She watched them fly off into the sunset, and suddenly figures burst from the trees.

Hinata swung around, and saw Lee, Kiba and Shino all running towards them. "Hinata!" Kiba yelled, Akamaru barked and ran beside him. Kiba hugged her, and Akamaru tried too, putting his front legs on her shoulders and licked her face. Shino, devoid of emotion as he was, helped Hinata to her feet.

"It's good to see that you're alright Hinata" Shino said in a monotone.

"I am happy as well!" Lee said, a smile on his lips that looked exactly like his sensei.

"Where's Neji?" Hinata asked, looking around.

"We left him on the mountain, after we funneled my chakra into him, he was exhausted" Naruto answered, standing up as well.

"He's going to be bummed he missed all the fighting" Kiba said, laughing.

"Well, looks like our mission was accomplished" Yamato said, smiling. "Which means its time to return to the leaf village"

Everyone walked toward the mountain where they left Neji, Hinata was carrying Naruto, since after unleashing the Nine-Tails power, and he was left weak. Hinata looked at him, and he looked at her, a gleam in his eyes.

"Thank you Hinata, for everything that you did for me. Without you, I would have had nothing to fight for" Naruto said, a soft smile on his lips and his blue eyes filled with emotion.

"Naruto, you were the one who saved me. I saw you when you talked to the fox, and you said… you, loved me?" Hinata asked, looking into those eyes.

To her joy, those eyes got even bigger, along with his smile. "Yes Hinata, I do. I didn't realize before, I was too afraid of what could happen, and I thought I loved Sakura. But I know now that you, are the one I truly love." Naruto pulled her into a hug, and Hinata hugged him back.

"Oh Naruto, I love you too!" Hinata cried, a tear of happiness slipping from her eye and down her cheek. Naruto wiped it away, and looked into her white orbs, leaning down towards her. Hinata craned her neck, reaching up to Naruto's face.

Their lips met, kissing softly. Hinata's arms moved up around Naruto's neck, while his moved down to her waist, pulling her close. Hinata's mind screamed, unable to believe she was kissing Naruto, the boy she had loved since she was an infant. Her body's inner fire was ignited, and passion unlike that she had ever known rolled over her body.

Kiba turned around to see Naruto and Hinata, and he gasped. Then it turned into a smile, watching the two of them like that, they really were meant for each other, he thought. Shino stood beside him, watching unmoving through his black glasses.

"I wondered how long it would take him," Kiba said, looking at Shino.

"I don't think it was as much Naruto's ignorance stopping them, as much as it was his fear. He knew inside all along, but he was afraid, and now, he's overcome that fear." Shino said, his wise words resonating within his teammate.

"Think we should stop them?" Kiba asked, smiling again and showing his canine teeth.

"They'll finish when they are ready" Shino said. Unknown to Kiba, the sight of the two young lovers in each others embrace made even the emotionless Shino smile. It was so beautiful, the sight of them together. It made even the Aburame show an existent, if very small, sign of happiness for the two.

Shino turned, walking away, and Kiba followed suit, Akamaru walking beside him. Kiba patted his dog's head, who barked in happiness, and Kiba was confident that this would all turn out well after all.

A/N: Oh god I nearly cried at the end. I listened to the Naruto soundtrack song Sadness and Sorrow at the end, and it really helped I think, made my writing more deep and emotional (this song is from various episodes, usually when Naruto or Lee is thinking about their past, and how they got to where they are, just search it on youtube). Anyway, the next chapter is the lemon, and it will have a two-week time skip, which will all be spent getting back to the village. I'm going to go get a tissue, enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but god I wish I did.

Chapter Ten

Those Last Few Seconds

Time: 10:32 PM

Location: Unknown

Sasuke Uchiha wore an expression that could make flowers wilt, his rage apparent on his face. Itachi had escaped him yet again, and it was all because of _him_. Naruto, his old friend, had stood in the way of him taking his revenge on his older brother. Once Naruto had unleashed the power of the Nine-Tails, Itachi was forced to flee with the rest of his fellow Akatsuki, and Sasuke couldn't stop him.

Sasuke's hand went up near his face and clenched into a fist, the rain pounding down on him. Trying to find Itachi was like trying to find a salamander in a lake, he was so hard to find, and so hard to miss, that it had taken Sasuke a full six months to determine where he was, and that was only because he had stayed in one place for a while.

And it was Naruto's fault. If he hadn't let the fox out from inside him, Itachi would have fought him one on one, and given how much Sasuke's skills had improved, he was confident that he could have killed him right there. Sasuke roared, smashing his fist into the ground, leaving fairly large cracks.

He pulled up his hood, turning his back. Sasuke walked away, headed back to the base of Orochimaru. Two thoughts were going through his head right now. One was how he was going to explain to Orochimaru why he had been gone this long, and the second thought was…

"_First I'll kill Itachi, and then, I'll kill you, Naruto_"

**Meanwhile…**

"Ahh, it is good to be home!" Naruto Uzumaki said, stretching his arms. The ninja had at last made it back from their long mission to save Hinata, and Naruto had never been happier. Over the course of the two weeks spent returning to the village, the two teens had gotten to know each other, what they wanted, what they needed, everything.

Despite Naruto's initial concerns that Neji would object to his and Hinata being together, to his surprise, the Hyuga boy was overjoyed that his younger cousin had at last gotten together with her lifetime crush. The only piece of advice he had given Naruto that should he break Hinata's heart, he would break him. Specifically every bone in his body.

Naruto fell down, landing on his soft bed with a thump. He spun over onto his back, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling, a smile on his face. He couldn't believe all that had happened in the last couple months. He had saved Hinata from the grip of evil, he had foiled the plans of the Akatsuki, and best of all, he had fallen in love with the most beautiful woman of all the hidden villages.

All of a sudden, Naruto heard a knock on his door. He jumped up from his bed and opened it, the smile on his face doubling in size when he saw who stood in front of him.

"Hinata! I wasn't expecting you tonight" Naruto said, hugging her tightly.

"What, I can't pop in to visit my new boyfriend?" Hinata said, leaning up and kissing him softly on the lips.

"Here, come on inside" Naruto said, pulling her into the room by her hand. "So, what did grandma Tsunade say?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be questioned on the Akatsuki's members by Ibiki tommorow morning, and as usual I'm to be kept off missions other then D-ranks for the next three months" Hinata sighed, sitting down on Naruto's bed.

"Well, she's just being careful. I guess you qualify as an ex-rogue ninja since you've been with the Akatsuki for well over a month" Naruto said, sitting down beside her.

"Well, the worst thing she could have done is keep me from seeing you" Hinata said, turning to Naruto and kissing him for a moment.

"Thank god she didn't" Naruto answered, and leaned in, kissing her back.

"Yeah… thank god…" Hinata said, her voice fading out as they kissed again with passion unrivaled by anything in the universe. Hinata ran her tongue along Naruto's bottom lip, begging for entrance into his warm cavern. His mouth opened, and her tongue slipped into it, wrestling with his tongue for dominence.

Naruto's hand drifted down, wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer to him, and his other moved to the back of her head, pushing them together. Hinata's arms moved to his side, pushing him back onto the bed. She slipped on top of him and their lips joined again, Hinata's tongue attacked Naruto's again, and her hands moved to the back of his head, wrapping around his neck.

Naruto's hands moved to her stomach, his hands moving under her shirt and rubbing her warm tummy, he trailed his fingers along, moving up and pulling her shirt up with him. Hinata giggled, his fingers tickling her stomach. His hands explored her chest, moving upward towards her soft breasts.

Hinata couldn't take it anymore, and she pulled off Naruto's shirt in a millisecond, and started kissing his muscular chest lovingly. Hinata had moved out of range of his hands so he had to remove his fingers from her breasts, but Naruto lay back, letting Hinata do what she please. She removed her pants and panties as well, but from Naruto's vantage point he couldn't see between her legs.

She trailed her kisses lower, past his belly button, then to the hem of his jeans. Her elequent fingers slipped under his belt and pulled it off, pulling down his zipper too.

An instant before she was about to pull down his pants, Naruto abruptly sat up. "Hinata, wait" he said, making the girl stop and look up at him.

"I'm sorry Naruto, are you not comfortable with this?" Hinata said, worry evident in her lavender-white eyes.

"No no it's not that, it's just, are you ready for this?" Naruto asked, his hands taking hold of her shoulders. "I mean, if your father finds he'll…"

"I don't care what my father will do. He's been pushing me around and telling me I'm worthless for far too long, I'm finished with him" Hinata said angrily, a fraction of that hate she had when she was with the Akatsuki coming back into her eyes, then vanishing as soon as it had come.

"He'll disown you Hinata, you won't be a Hyuga anymore" Naruto said, looking into her eyes trying to make the severe consequences evident to her.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to find another place to live" Her face fell, and then she looked up into his icy blue orbs. "Naruto, can I…"

"You don't even have to ask. Live here with me Hinata, your father won't have any say in what you do, and we can be together in peace" Naruto said, a warm smile forming on his face.

"Oh Naruto thank you!" she leaped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Naruto smiled and hugged her back.

"Uh, Hinata, not that I'm not enjoying myself, but I need to breath too" Naruto squeaked out, patting her back.

"Oh, sorry about that" Hinata said, and jumped back, a cute smile that made Naruto melt was on her face. "Now, where were we?"

Hinata pushed Naruto back onto the bed and slunked down to his waistline. Her fingers pulled his pants off with gusto, and reached down into his blue boxer shorts. Her digits grasped his manhood and pulled it from the boxers, exposing it to the open air.

Naruto nearly lost it from the sight of Hinata with his cock in her hand, but he kept his instincts in check, and panted instead, much to her delight. Hinata moved her hand up and down his shaft, rubbing the head with her thumb while jacking him off, driving Naruto into a world of new pleasure he had never experianced.

Hinata leaned down, a playful look in her eyes, and licked his manhood experimentally. Naruto shivered from the eletricity created from the gesture, and thrust himself up, poking her lips with the head of his length. Hinata giggled and with the very lips of her mouth, sucked the head ever so slightly. Naruto moaned and thrust again, this time getting nearly half of his 8-inch cock into her warm mouth.

Hinata swirled her concealed tongue all around him, licking every inch of him that was in her mouth. She bobbed her head up and down him, making Naruto moan and grip the sheets so hard his knuckles turned white. The pleasure racked his body in waves; he couldn't even speak from the intense passion with which Hinata was sucking him.

Naruto sat up, ruled by his instincts now, and picked up Hinata, sliding her underneath him on the bed. He leaned down and kissed her neck, licking the soft skin and nipping it, leaving love bites just to remind her. He moved lower, and pulled off her shirt instantaneously, revealing her large, natural breasts.

On the way home from the northlands, he and Hinata had gone as far as her giving him a blowjob, but they had never seen each other fully naked before. Hinata blushed madly, and her hands moved to her breasts to try and cover them, but Naruto grasped her wrists and held them in midair, a pained expression on his face.

"Please… don't" Naruto pleaded, and let her hands go, Hinata suppressing the urge to cover herself up again. He leaned down, and kissed her left nipple, then his mouth enveloped her breast, suckling on it like a baby. Hinata's eyes widened and she panted; gasping for breath at the sheer pleasure he created.

While he suckled her breast, Naruto's other hand moved down, and moved below her belly button, dangerously close to her nether regions. She moaned loudly and grabbed his hand, moving it above her throbbing, soaked pussy. Naruto's fingers unknowingly brushed over her clit and Hinata's back arched, and she squirmed and moaned his name lustfully.

"Naruto… please… touch me" Hinata begged, her eyes filled with raw lust and desire for more. Naruto smiled and his mouth left her breast, trailing wet kisses down to her womanhood. He hovered in front of it, staring at her jewel curiously. He hadn't the faintest idea what to do, but he went on impulse and kissed his, making Hinata squirm and moan for more.

Taking it as pleasure, Naruto attacked her folds, licking and kissing slowly all over the area. Hinata gripped his bedsheets, panting and moaning his name as he ate her out. His tongue found a small nub and he licked it, making Hinata arch and moan 'Naruto!' lustfully. Naruto, interested, slipped his tongue deep into her folds, making her gasp and pant.

His tongue didn't know where to begin, tasting and licking her inner walls and driving Hinata into an abyss of pleasure where all she could see was white light. She tasted so sweet, a bit like sweat and the sweetest chocolate mixed together, Naruto thought. His nose rubbed her clit outside, making her nearly scream in pleasure.

After another minute of bliss, Naruto pulled his tongue out of her, licking her clit one more time for good measure. He moved up to her mouth, kissing her and interwining their tongues, allowing Hinata to taste her own delicious taste. She moaned and smiled into his mouth.

"Naruto… please take me, make me yours" Hinata breathed into his mouth. Naruto kissed her one last time and then kneeled, positioning himself in front of her pussy. He gave her one last "are you ready?" look, and when she nodded, Naruto pushed himself in, breaking her barrier.

Hinata squeaked in pain and a tear slipped from her eye. Naruto winced as well, silently apologizing for what he did, and then began to push in and out. Hinata's squeaks of pain turned into moans in seconds, and the pleasure radiated through her body so intensely Hinata thought for a moment she was going to pass out.

Naruto picked up speed, moving in and out, his balls slapped Hinata's pussy as he thrusted and made him moan from the mucles in Hinata's womanhood contracting and pumping around him. A blowjob had nothing on this, Naruto thought, and picked up speed a little again, eager to feel the muscles around his cock.

"Naruto…" Hinata moaned, and she closed her eyes in pleasure. "Harder… faster… more…" Hinata's hands moved down lower, one grabbed her breast and circled the nipple, pinching and playing with it, while the other rubbed her swollen clit, driving her over the edge of pleasure oblivion.

Naruto picked up his speed, slamming in and out of Hinata's tight wetness. He half-moaned, half-yelled in pleasure, panting heavily. Naruto opened his eyes and drank in the sight of Hinata, touching her clit and breasts, her midnight blue hair spread on the bed and moaning loudly while he thrust in and out of her. The sight made him… hungry for more and he went past his limit, reaching his climax.

"Oh god… HINATA!" Naruto yelled, thrusting into her so hard when his balls slapped her he was racked with pain.

"NARUTO!" Hinata screamed, climaxing at the same time he did.

Hinata's juices coated Naruto's cock, making him nearly slip out of her wetness. At the same time, the tip of Naruto's manhood spewed his cum inside her, soaking her already-soaked pussy with his love.

Naruto nearly fell over from all the effort he had put into that, but his muscles got the better of him and he fell onto the bed between Hinata and the wall. He panted and gasped for breath, feeling Hinata beside him doing the same. By some miracle, Naruto managed to turn over, and face Hinata.

She wore a smile that nearly split her face in two, while gasping for air. She turned her head and looking at him, finally catching her breath. Her fingers slipped around his waist, and his did the same, pulling them together into a hug.

"I love you, Naruto…" Hinata managed, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips.

"I love you too Hinata" Naruto said, nearly crying from the emotion he felt while saying those words. He leaned down and kissed her softly again, and then reached down, pulling the covers over them. He flicked the lightswitch, turning off the lights and letting the moonlight stream in from the only window.

And as she closed her eyes, holding the boy she loved, the last few seconds slipped away. Hinata realized, this was all she needed in life, Naruto and his love for her was her life now. Without him, she could not exist any more. As sleep claimed her, Hinata thought, no matter what the future may have in store for them, she would never stop fighting.

Never give up.

A/N: And that, is all I wrote! I know the end was kinda cheesy, but I always like wrapping up my stories like that. That was my best fic (and lemon) ever I think, so I'm aiming for my NEXT one to be even better! I thought, since I'm having so much fun I'll write another. I've named it _No More Pain_. It's a story (which I know that is common in the Naruto-fic universe) about how Naruto and Hinata meet when they are kids, and they grow up best friends. I read a few of those here and I really liked them, so I'm writing my own! I'll start writing it right now, until then, peace out!

_Valior_


	11. Update

**Update**

Hello FanFiction, it's me; Valior.

Believe it or not, I'm actually not dead.

I'm simply posting this because I'd like to update you guys on a fic that I'm currently working that follows after _The Red Clouds of Love_. Unfortunately, _No More Pain_ had to be abandoned because shortly after I started it, because my computer was stolen and I lost my only copy of it, thus losing three chapters of work and my motivation.

I never really stopped writing, actually, I simply never posted any of my work online, and while I drafted a sequel to my last fic some time ago, I only recently revisited it and tore it down. I've rebuilt it from scratch with a plot that I have a good idea of where to go with, and I've drafted a complete synopsis for that fic, which, as I said, takes place after _The Red Clouds of Love_.

I can't give you a massive amount of detail for fear of spoiling everything, but I will tell you that I've watched the entire Naruto series since writing my last fic, and I've expanded my toolbox on the universe a bit. I'm making the Akatsuki the primary villains (now operating on Pain's original idea of peace through fear of a tailed beast weapon) and eliminating Tobi as a character entirely because he's simply not a compelling villain. Sasuke is now a major character and I will be focusing on a new take on his battle and relationship with Itachi and the Hidden Leaf village, as well as Hinata and Naruto's now open love for one another. There are also a couple other romance plots, which I'm sure will be apparent when you see them.

Also, I realized that it's better for publicity and I can get content out faster by working in smaller increments, so instead of my usual method of finishing a story first and then posting it all at once, I'll be working and posting chapter-by-chapter and that'll be my _modus operandi_ for this. And though I wish I could, I can't guarantee super-frequent updates because I am starting my first year of university and am unsure of my workload. But I can promise that I'll put my all into it and that I'll deliver you guys the best that I've got as quickly as I can.

And finally, I'd like to ask you guys: Does this sound like a fic you'd like to read? If the answer is yes, then I'd advise you to, well, go read it then! As you read this, the first chapter is either pending for its post or already up, so please, head over there, read, enjoy, favorite and leave a review if you're able. Reviews are the author's candy, and it helps us all get content out faster.

Best wishes to you all, and enjoy _For the Fire will Birth the Shadow_.

Valior


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